NEW DELHI, 26 August 2006 — The Netherlands yesterday expressed regret over the detention of 12 Indians for suspicious behavior aboard a Northwest Airlines flight on Wednesday. Dutch Ambassador Eric Niehe, who was summoned by the Indian government to lodge a formal protest, however, said the detention was not a case of racial discrimination.
“The Dutch ambassador was told that we take this matter, the handling of the incident, very seriously, and that it was not in conformity with the friendly relations between the Netherlands and India,” said Navtej Sarna, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman.
Dutch authorities detained the 12 for more than a day, then released them after finding no evidence of a terrorist threat. The men had aroused suspicions because they had a large number of cell phones, laptops and computer hard drives on the Bombay-bound flight. Prosecutors said they had refused to follow the crew’s instructions. The flight was escorted by two Dutch fighter planes back to Amsterdam just after takeoff.
Sarna described the incident as “regrettable” and said India hoped the detention did not indicate a racial bias.
Dismissing criticism of the government’s handling of the issue, Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said government officials had worked fast to get the 12 out of detention in 30 hours. Consular access was provided to Indians much ahead of the 48 hours stipulated in the Vienna Convention in such a situation, he said.
The ministry’s statement came after relatives of the 12 and Muslim leaders said the incident reflected growing international bias against Muslims. “Because of this global war on terror, Muslims today feel the same way as Jews in the 1930s,” said Shabnam Hashmi, a spokeswoman for the New Delhi-based human rights movement Act Now for Harmony and Democracy. “This calculated, systematic demonization of Muslims is going to get worse in the coming days.”
Others said all South Asians, and not just Muslims, were increasingly under the scanner. “Earlier it was just the US, but now it’s Europe too. Anyone who is not white is a suspect,” said Zafarul Islam Khan, editor of The Milli Gazette, an English-language newspaper.
In Bombay, where the 12 men were born, there was anger among their families over their treatment. The relatives of 32-year-old Ayub Kolsawala said the incident showed religious bias. “This is happening to us only because we are Muslims,” said Kolsawala’s sister-in-law Lubna.
Indian media reported the men were in the export trade and knew each other.
According to one passenger, quoted by the De Telegraaf newspaper in the Netherlands, the plane turned around because “the men began telephoning, searching in plastic bags and moving about the plane when it wasn’t allowed.”
Dutch prosecution spokesman Ed Hartjes said the police inquiry focused on the passengers’ cell phone conversations and fears that their baggage contained explosives, but no evidence of wrongdoing was found.
— Additional input from agencies
