Riyadh, 20 May (H.S.). An Indian engineer in Saudi Arabia found it expensive to make a swastika at the gate of his house. On the complaint of the neighbor, the police arrested him and sent him to jail.
The 45-year-old chemical engineer from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh has been living and working in Saudi Arabia for more than a year. Last month the engineer had also called his family to Saudi Arabia. Due to their religious belief, the family members made a swastika mark on the gate of their flat. His neighbor, a local Arab man mistook it for Hitler’s Nazi mark.
The neighbor complained about this to the police and threatened his life. Acting on the complaint, the police arrested the engineer from Andhra. The engineer tried to explain a lot that it was not a Nazi symbol but a sacred symbol of Hinduism, but the police officers did not agree and sent the engineer to jail.
On getting the information, NRI activist Muzammil Shaikh came forward to help the Indian engineer and he explained to the officials and finally the policemen agreed. However, as Saturday and Sunday are holidays, the Indian engineer will have to spend two days in jail without any crime. Muzammil Sheikh told that this incident happened due to misunderstanding of culture. We told the officials that the swastika symbol is considered very sacred in Hinduism and is made on the gate of houses for happiness and prosperity. Nais Shaukat Ali from Kerala, who worked for the Indian community in Saudi Arabia, also helped the Indian engineer.
