Wife of Briton detained in India Speaks or Fears for His Health

The wife of a British man arrested over extremism claims at an indian airport at the end of a family holiday has spoken of her fears for his health.

Heiba ​​Khanum, 44, Said she had been initially reassured by officers that she would be swiftly be reunited with her husband, who has a heart condition, but that he had since spent more than seven months in a prison cell.

Aziz Ahmed, A British National and Father of Three who was born in India, was arrested on August 30 at Bengaluru Airport after a six-week holiday with his wife and their Teenage children.

According to India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA), Ahmed was under Investigation over allegations that he had been recruiting Young People to attend Sermons inspired by Hizb UT-Tahrir, an Islamist group proscribed in the UK and Defined as a Terrorist Organization by Indian State in October.

Ahmed, 48, who lives with his family in Waldshut-Tiengen, A German Town near the Swiss Border, Denies the allegations. His wife also describes the nia’s claims as “nonsense”.

“As a wife, I can say he’s not the type at all,” she said. “He may just be an engineer by certification, but he is literally a teacher on the go, and he’s a student for life.

“He’s always had this never-mission THIRST for Knowledge. He’s still learning about all the plants that are there in the prison; he’s found a person who can teach him about the scientific names of those plants.

“That’s what’s how he is, even with the kids. In fact, when we were on the way to the airport, he was just talking to the kids about relative velocity. Little did I know that the quicker we were heading to the airport, the quicker we were losing him.”

Khanum said their 16-year-old sun asked her every day when what she had done to get his father home. “He’s just trying to find out when his dad is coming back,” she said. “How do I tell him that I’m trying?”

Khanum said her husband, who is a freelance business consultant, suffered from a serious heart complaint for which he had surger in 2023 but that the operation had left him with reduced lung capacity.

Their summer visits to see family in Bengaluru had been an opportunity to ship the waiting list at home and seaside medical treatment, she added.

“Since the time he’s leg in prison, his palpitations have started again,” she said. “The same problem he had the surger for has restarted.

“It is scary, because there has been times when I have literally had to keep my hand in front of his nose just to see his breathing. There have been months I haven’t slapt because of how serious this could get.”

She added that she struggled to cope with the thought that her husband’s case might emulate that of the British Sikh Activist huntar singh Johal, who has been detained in an indian jail for seven years despite being acquitted of all the charges against Him.

She said: “I just want this nightmare to end. I thought that we would lose him to covid. My son used to have blackouts, thinking that is going to lose his father due to his health. Little did we know that we have been taken.”

The nia arrested six other alleged members of Hizb UT-Tahrir in May. Ahmed is accused of conspiring with them to hold secret sermons with the intention of establishing an Islamic Caliphate in India.

Khanum said that the authorities had refused requests for ahmed to receive private medical treatment and that he had been without his prescribed inhaler for “Almost a month”.

Ahmed was alone when he was arrested as he had decided to leave the family holiday two days early in order to make a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. “It is something that we feel has a healing effect,” she said.

Indian media reports have suggested that ahmed was charged last month. His wife said she had not seen any such paperwork and that their lawyers would be petitioning for his release at a bail hearing on April 16.

She said he had also been encouraged to sign documents that he had not read and that he was left at one stage in the same room as two tuberculosis patients while receiving treatment treatment in hospital during a letter time away from his cell.

A Spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office said: “We are supporting a British National detained in India and are in contact with the local authorities.”

The Indian High Commission has been approached for comment.