Abdul Lateef Naushad, the NRI in Saudi Arabia, was officially pardoned by the Shariat Court in that country after the man who had lost an eye in a fight with the Indian decided to forgive him. The news was conveyed to Naushad’s wife Suhaila by Minister of State for External Affairs Minister E Ahamed who met her on Monday. Suhaila, who came to Delhi to meet the Saudi king to plead for her husband’s pardon, said she was overjoyed by the news.‘‘Nobody can understand how happy I am right now. They tell me that my husband may not be freed for some time yet, but at least he has been spared, and I am extremely grateful for this,’’ she said. The mother of two was taken to meet Ahamed this evening, who told her that while her husband had been pardoned, his release was still to be handled by the Shariat Court which had to follow due process, and so could take some time.Suhaila said, ‘‘This is the first time in more than two years that we have heard good news. Since my husband was arrested in 2003, we have had to face so many hardships. We have had to face money problems. We have lived off the charity of others. We have been praying hard for all these years and it is God’s grace that my husband will be spared, and will be free soon.”Holding daughter Asna, she said, ‘‘He has never even seen his daughter. It is God’s gift to us all that he has been spared.” A friend of the family, Kureem, who had accompanied Suhaila to act as interpreter since she cannot speak Hindi, said, ‘‘For two years now our friends and family had been trying to persuade Naif (the victim) to pardon Naushad so we were not satisfied till the minister himself confirmed the news. We are all very happy with the news.’’
