Congress MP Manish Tewari has said that if anything happens to the eight ex-naval officers in Qatar, the BJP-led NDA government would be responsible for it and the Centre will have "blood on its hands". He said whatever the Centre did for the release of eight former naval officers in Qatar "was not enough", despite Congress "raising" the issue in the Lok Sabha. He said the officers were in solitary confinement then. His remarks came after the Court of First Instance in Doha, Qatar sentenced the former Navy officials to death in connection with their involvement in the now-defunct Al Dahra company, known as Dahra Global.
"On December 7, 2022, I had raised this issue in Lok Sabha. At that particular point of time, these eight senior naval officers had been in solitary confinement for 120 days. (External Affairs minister) Dr S Jaishankar responded to my intervention with a letter on December 26, 2022, in which he listed out certain things government of India was doing, but clearly that was not enough," he said.
"Eight senior decorated officers of Indian Navy have been sentenced to death on charges which are still not known. I had asked in Lok Sabha what are the charges against him. It is astounding that the cavalier manner in which NDA-BJP govt, Minister Jaishankar and his ministry have dealt with this issue. If anything happens to these 8 people then their blood will be on the hands of NDA-BJP govt," Tewari added.
Party MP Shashi Tharoor said the entire case details are shrouded in "mystery and opacity" and he hopes the Ministry of External Affairs and Prime Minister's Office will intervene to bring the ex-Indian naval officers back to the country.
"Shocked to learn that #Qatar has passed a death sentence on eight former @IndianNavy officers. The details of the entire case are shrouded in mystery & opacity. Trust @MEAIndia & @PMOIndia will act immediately with the highest levels of the Qatar government to support an appeal and bring them home. @DrSJaishankar," he said on X.
The verdict prompted an immediate response from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in India.
In response to the verdict, the MEA issued a statement on Thursday expressing its deep concern. The ministry revealed that they possess initial information regarding the judgment and are eagerly awaiting the release of the detailed judgment from the Qatari authorities.