RIYADH, 24 February 2006 — A driver of the International Indian School Riyadh (IISR) lost his speech briefly and also his movement after receiving a memo from the school principal that he was “not under the sponsorship of the school and also both your passport and Iqama have been confiscated by the Department of Deportation at the Jawazat (Passport office).”

Mohammed Ajaz, who had been working as a driver under the sponsorship of IISR for the last 10 years, was in tears when Arab News contacted him at the Obeid Specialized Hospital.

“I was shocked when Manzar Jamal Siddiqui, the principal, issued the notice and asked me not to work as I did not have any legal documents,” Ajaz told Arab News, sometimes breaking down as he was unable to speak coherently.

He added that he had not visited India for a long time, since he has been denied all leave facilities. Even when his father expired on Sept. 4 last year, he could only mourn his loss in solitude. Speaking to Arab News, Siddiqui insisted that Ajaz should see the school representative Saeed Kanan Al-Kareemi and accompany him to the passport office for verification of his documents. He said he had also visited the hospital to inquire about his condition.

However, Siddiqui’s statement raises more questions than it answers. Photocopies of the documents prove that Ajaz’s sponsorship was transferred to IISR on 6.2.1419H. His Iqama (No.2106068642) was renewed on 8.4.1426H and is valid till 9.6.1427H. Yet, the principal insists that he should accompany Al-Kareemi to the passport office.

One of the teachers present in the hospital said he had not visited his family in Hyderabad for more than six years. Since the managing committee has been dissolved, a three-member ad hoc committee consisting of the principals of the boys’and girls’sections as well as a school employee have been running the show. This is in contrast to a similar ad hoc committee at IISJ (International Indian School Jeddah), whose members are drawn from the Indian community.

Parents are worried that the hirings and firings has been going on at a time when school examinations (for 10-12 grades) are scheduled to start on March 1, while those for the lower classes have already begun.