After one month away from home, attending garment fairs across the West Indies, we were completely exhausted after 22 hours of transit at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. We were desperate for sleep. So when we boarded the Mumbai-bound Northwestern Airlines plane, the first thing I did was to strap my seat-belt and prepare to sleep after take-off. There are four seats in the middle of the plane, all in one row, between where my friend and I were. So I decided to stretch out. After take-off, I unstrapped myself, settled down for a nap. After approximately 20-25 minutes of flying time, we heard an announcement that the plane was being taken back to Schiphol due to security reasons. Technical snag, I thought, as I got up. Then, the shock of my life. Dutch security officers, some in black, some in black and blue, came and arrested all 12 of us, all of us from Mumbai. Once we were out, they examined our hand-baggage, our baggage was summoned, identified and checked. They found nothing. The airport police didn’t ask us anything other than the names. They didn’t need to. After all, they had our passports, that had all the details. The only question in my mind was yeh kya ho raha hai? Hum toh businessmen hain, okay hain, everything about us is legitimate. Oh, and there was another foreigner, long-haired, shaayad hippie tha, who was also taken away by the police. He said something harsh to the police when we were being taken away. The Dutch police first took us to their headquarters where their jail is. They seated us separately and then had a chat with us separately. A judge was called in, and we were asked our names, addresses, occupation, what we did, where we were coming from. They took down whatever we said in their language, Dutch, then they typed it out, translated it, read it out to us, then got it signed by us. That first day, we went on sitting till 3 am or so, there was no question of eating. Even if food was offered, I wouldn’t have been able to eat. We had separate small cells to sleep in — it was stuffy and my only thought was, if it is like this in a cell, what must a qabra (grave) be like? The next day, an officer came and told us we would have to stay and go through the procedure at the police station, even though he added they had found nothing on us which was incriminating. They gave us shampoo and soap, there was a little toilet where we could have bathed, but I simply couldn’t bring myself to it. The toilet was strangely designed. Also, I didn’t have fresh clothes to change into.We were served bread, butter, tea and a cup of milk. Later, the officers from the Indian Embassy came. I can never forget Amarji there or Ganguly Madam. Especially Ganguly Madam. (a reference to Rupa Ganguly Das, the charge d’ affaires at the Indian Embassy). You know, she came despite a family function, she did not leave it to any other junior in the embassy. All I know is that she told us she wouldn’t go anywhere until we were moved to a hotel. She kept her word. They gave us all our baggage and we were moved to a hotel that day. The hotel we were moved to was top grade, five-star, I can’t recall the name. But each of us was given a room, with an attached bath. We bathed, offered Namaaz-e-Shukra. Breakfast at 5 am was a buffet, with all conceiveable things put out separately for us. There were boiled eggs, cornflakes, fruits, bread and butter. But I had just boiled eggs, fruits and tea. Despite having a room each, all 12 of us stayed together in two rooms. We talked, we watched TV. After breakfast, I went to my room, put off the lights and rested for a while. I got up after an hour and switched on the TV and saw a Dutch channel which was relaying images of our families in India saying we were innocent. Soon, the Embassy people came and told us it was time to go. The airport formalities got over very quickly. There was a separate check-in counter for us, we checked in, they also gave us a 12-Euro coupon which I used for some tea and biscuits. The police was all the way with us, escorted us right to the plane. They were in plainclothes this time, neither in black or blue.The boarding was fatafat. We got into the plane and sat down comfortably. Three commandos travelled seated next to us, and were jovial all the way, cracking jokes, masti-mazaak. Yes, of course, we had our seat belts on before take-off and were anxious to get some sleep. The air hostesses were normal with us, and I had some tea and a Seven-Up. Hum bahut thak gaye the.Before landing, we were shown Dutch dailies and they read out translations of the headlines. It said all 12 “were found innocent and we are sending them back”. It was a great sense of relief hearing that. The flight was for eight and a half hours, two hours late though. We reached home early in the morning, about 2.15 am. There were hundreds of people at the airport, TV cameras. Abbu, ammi also. Well, now I am home.People want to know if I think all of this happened because of my name, my religion or my skin colour? I don’t know. Yeh security ka maamla hai, (This is a security issue). Even in India yeh ho sakta hai. (This can happen even in India). If there is suspicion, they will isolate and question, I suppose. I have no regrets. Haan, gussa zaroor aaya, Why me, maine socha. Main toh innocent tha na? Lekin ab to waapas aa gaya, ab gussa nahin hai. (Yes, I was angry but now that I am back, the anger’s gone). Aur waise bhi, I think they realised what a big thing it was to recall a plane. So you see, they had to justify and give reasons for it, therefore the procedure, paperwork etcetera. But they did not beat us or anything, they did not touch us. Hamein haath nahin lagaaya, mara nahi, mentally disturbed hum zaroor hue. Post Script : There were three policemen on mobikes who dropped by on Saturday to casually ask if they would be writing to complain to the Dutch Embassy. Ayub’s father is a heart patient and fainted at the airport when he saw his son. He is at home and said to be well now. Also, Masab, the eight year-old son of Ayub, was diagnosed with jaundice the night Ayub’s name was announced as one of the detainees. The family is confident that with Dad back, the son will get better soon.
