Eight Jailed Navy Veterans Return From Qatar; Shooting at Sikh Activist Home in Canada

Eight Indian Navy veterans jailed in Qatar over alleged spying charges have been released and reached India early on 12 Feb. The Indian nationals are all employees of Qatar’s Dahra Global Technologies and Consulting Services — a private company that offers training and other services to the defense and security agencies of Qatar. The veterans were arrested Aug 2022 and were given the death sentence in Oct 2023 (SDW Vol. 1 Issue 7, Story 8). The veterans did not have prior information of their release and were taken away by embassy officials shortly after they were freed. The Indian media started celebrating the role of National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar. A day later, rumors started circulating that cine star Shah Rukh Khan had played a role in the release of the Navy veterans, which Khan denied. Qatar’s decision to free the veterans could have been prompted by business interests. From 2011 to 2018, India invested $450 million in Qatar. Earlier in 2023, it was reported that Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Retail alone would get a $1 billion investment from Qatar's sovereign wealth fund. On the same day as the release of the jailed veterans, in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, construction workers discovered a bullet hole at Inderjit Singh Gosal’s home. Gosal has been working with US-based group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) and is a close aide to Gurpatwant Singh Pannun. SFJ in a statement said, the bullet hole was found ‘days after Gosal announced the Khalistan Freedom Rally at the Indian Consulate Toronto on 17 Feb.’