The Donald Trump administration is going strong with their strange agenda against academics as a new report by Politico has now revealed that Dr. Badar Khan Suri, a scholar of Indian nationality, has been arrested by the Department of Homeland Security. There are no strong charges against him and he lives in the US on his valid student visa and is married to a US citizen.
Politico has reported that Suri was arrested right outside his home in Virginia by “masked agents” who mentioned that they were with the DHS. Despite not having anything criminal against him, Suri is now awaiting his transfer to Texas as he has been targeted for deportation.
Previously, Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested on the similar vague statute that is cited by the Trump administration to make these kinds of arrests. Khalil had legal permanent residency in the US during his arrest and he was a Columbia University graduate student who led pro-Palestine protests the previous year. The bizarre statute that the Trump administration makes regarding these arrests say that they can arrest anyone whom they consider a threat to the country.
Regarding Suri’s situation, his lawyer Hassan Ahmad told Politico, “We’re trying to speak with him. That hasn’t happened yet. This is just another example of our government abducting people the same way they abducted Khalil.” Ahmed further mentioned that Suri is likely being targeted because Mapheze Saleh, his wife, is of Palestinian heritage and the couple has also been extremely vocal about America’s continued support of Israel.
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Ahmed also mentioned that far right websites had doxxed the couple because of their continued voice against Israel and America’s continued support to their atrocious acts against Palestine. Suri is a faculty at Georgetown University and a spokesperson for the institution mentioned to Politico that Suri was “duly granted a visa to enter the United States to continue his doctoral research on peacebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
The spokesperson further added, “We are not aware of him engaging in any illegal activity, and we have not received a reason for his detention. “We support our community members’ rights to free and open inquiry, deliberation and debate, even if the underlying ideas may be difficult, controversial or objectionable. We expect the legal system to adjudicate this case fairly.”
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Suri’s faculty page on the university’s website shows that he is a postdoctoral fellow at the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. He got his PhD from the Indian university Jamia Millia Islamia in Peace and conflict studies.
The arrest of such an educated man without any valid ground only shows how desperate the Trump administration is regarding killing the voice of anyone who speaks against them. Given the fact that the recent surprise airstrikes by Israel on the Gaza strip that claimed hundreds of lives were approved by the Trump government, such behavior, though highly unwarranted, is not unexpected from a leader like him.
