The plight of the nine workers who have been tortured, denied food and detained for the last two months in Saudi Arabia has worsened, even as the Indian Embassy in Saudi Arabia said it was “actively working towards the redressal of their grievances.” In video messages shared with TwoCircles.net, the workers said they have been beaten up again, denied food and are currently detained in a basement-like structure in Riyadh.
In a response to an email query from TwoCircles.net, the Indian Counselor in Riyadh added that the Embassy was fully cognizant of the issue and that the redressal will take time.
The workers said that on Wednesday, February 21, they had been shifted from Al-Khafji district of Saudi Arabia to a location near the Indian Embassy in Riyadh. The nine workers—all from West Bengal— said they feared for their lives in Saudi Arabia and requested West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Indian PM Narendra Modi to help them return to India. In their video messages, the workers said that their employers, who were working with another Indian contractor, had threatened them with dire consequences if they uttered any demands to return to India.
The workers had arrived in Saudi Arabia in October 2017 with the help of two touts who assured them the job of carpenters in multinational companies and took a commission of Rs 1.3 lakh from each worker. But their time in Saudi Arabia did not turn out as planned. Instead of being employed as carpenters, they were compelled to work as sweepers and beaten up when they refused to do so. In January, when they first asked for West Bengal CM’s help to return to India, their issue was picked up by the Bengali media. Since three of the workers were from Nadia district, the district administration asked the Indian Embassy in Riyadh for help following which the workers were paid a part of their salaries but continue to remain underworked, underfed and held as hostages to the company.
The nine workers said they have been left disappointed by the inactiveness of the Indian Government. While speaking to TwoCircles.Net, the workers, some of whom were weeping, said they hadn’t had anything to eat for the past three days.
Shyamal Paul, one of the workers, questioned why the Indian government was not hearing their appeals. “Why is our Government silent over our misery? We are pleading to our CM Mamata Banerjee, as well as PM Narendra Modi to take us away from here and let us come back to our homes.”
Another worker, Azahar Mondal, said, “We were beaten yesterday evening indiscriminately when we refused to sign a blank Indian stamp paper. We did not sign because we don’t know what they will write in the blank paper. We just want to go back home.”