syrian refugees – The Metrognome

…in the news, that is. Three separate and grisly incidents have focussed a harsh spotlight on one of the world’s richest countries.

by Humra Quraishi

This month has not been a kind one for Saudi Arabia. The country has been thrust into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.

First came the crane tragedy at Mecca that killed hundreds of pilgrims and injured more than 300 people. Such a thing has been unheard of in this country, and it rightly shook Saudi Arabia and the rest of the world when the news first broke. At the moment, an official fact finding mission is on to ascertain the cause of the accident, there are thousands of rumours swirling about the place.

Theories ranging from sabotage to foul play by foreign players are constantly doing the rounds. What really happened out there?

Then the country put its foot firmly in its mouth with its ‘offer’ to build mosques in Germany if the latter takes in Syrian refugees. Not only is this offer bizarre but it borders on the idiotic. Firstly, why would Germany need this country’s intervention to build mosques on its land? Why would it need to build mosques in the first place? And second, what stops Saudi Arabia from taking in the Syrian refugees themselves? This is a country with more money and land than it knows what to do with. It can easily offer help and refuge while it sets up schools, hospitals, food canteens and camps for the Syrian refugees.

But no, it contends itself with making strange proposals to other countries after asking them to help those in need. What is the Government thinking, and why the studied silence on the issue of accepting refugees through its own borders?

And then there was the news of the Saudi diplomat accused of raping and torturing his Nepalese domestic help and her daughter in New Delhi. There is no concrete conclusion in the case yet and the man himself remains out of the public eye owing to his diplomatic immunity. How long does it take to complete such an investigation? Or are there wheels within wheels, due to which the investigation is taking so much time?

Questions that nobody is willing to answer…

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant. Her latest book Dagars and Dhrupad is out now.

(Picture courtesy www.ndtv.com)

If the Syrians came to India…

…they would most likely be banned. Which would be okay, considering how we treated last year’s Burmese refugees in Delhi.

by Humra Quraishi

It is still hard to see the picture of little Aylan Kurdi and not cry. The three-year-old Syrian boy’s body was washed ashore after the dinghy he and his family were in capsized as they fled to Greece. Along with pain at the fate of a young life snuffed out through no fault of its own, is the numbness of knowing that all the Syrian refugees are actually fleeing into nowhere, with no future.

Though a few countries have acknowledged that they would take a few refugees, the fact is that nobody wants the burden of housing scores of people from another land. At least some European nations opened their borders; the rich Arab nations have still not done so!

Though there is no possibility of this happening, but I can’t help wondering what would happen in the Syrian refugees somehow found their way to our shores. I think their entry would be banned straightaway – after all, we are so fond of banning everything in sight. Even if they did sneak in, they would be constantly under the scanner as troublemakers, or worse, suspects connected to ISIS or similar outfits!

What is ironical is that though more than half of New Delhi’s population comprises refugees at some point – they themselves, if not their parents and grandparents – have fled from undivided Punjab during the Partition, their attitude towards migrants and refugees is completely deplorable. Last year, hundreds of Burmese refugees, the Rohingyas, fled their land to seek refuge in Delhi.

Not only was their condition hard to describe when they got here, their condition is even worse today. Neglected and shunned by the capital city, they continue to live in squalor. When they arrived here, they hadn’t eaten in days, and most were malnourished and about to die. Nothing has changed today – they live in a disease-infested ghetto near Kalindi Kunj in New Dlehi, close to the outer fringes of Okhla. I would say they are living like outcasts, worse than animals. I wish their entry had been banned instead.

Humra Quraishi is a senior political journalist based in Gurgaon. She is the author of Kashmir: The Untold Story and co-author of Simply Khushwant.

(Picture courtesy