Detained in Doha: Tech Mahindra Qatar head's parents plead for justice

A paneer paratha made by his mother and an English version of the Bhagvad Gita handed over by his parents to “help find courage” in the darkest hour are the straws of hope that 45-year-old Amit Gupta — the Region Head of Tech Mahindra for Qatar and Kuwait — has been grasping at, over six months after he was allegedly detained by authorities in Qatar in January for “unknown reasons”.

- GNS News Agency

His parents have travelled from Vadodara to Doha, camping there since May this year, to provide ‘moral support’ to their son, even as the anguish continues for the family seeking justice. Retired ONGC employee JP Gupta (73) and his wife Pushpa (65) have been granted weekly half an hour in-person meetings with Amit, who remains confined in “a room without windows” at an undisclosed detention center in Doha since January. When they first met Amit on their arrival in May, the Guptas said he “cried like a child”. JP Gupta says, “Since he was taken into custody on January 1, he has not been informed till date what are the charges against him; neither is there any formal case that we are aware of. He has been locked in a room since that day, with no human interaction. When we met him, we could see that it had taken a toll on his health. He only cries for help and asks us to speak to those who can help. We have been telling him that we are trying every possible avenue but we have not found any glimmer of hope yet...”

Gupta adds that they handed over an English version of the Bhagvad Gita to Amit to “help him find courage”.