Indian-origin scholar Badar Khan Suri, the postdoctoral scholar and Georgetown University professor, who was released from ICE custody after over a month, said the ordeal was ‘Kafka-esqe’. He told NBC News after his release that he was chained everywhere — wrist, ankles, body.And for the first seven, eight days, he even missed his shadow. “There was no charge, there was nothing. They made a sub human out of me,” he said.

Why was Badar Khan Suri arrested?

Badar Khan Suri was arrested for his father-in-law Ahmed Yousef who served as an adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Suri’s wife Mapheze Saleh is a Palestinian-American and though Suri’s family is based in India, he went to Gaza for his wedding. Khan Suri was accused of “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media”. Eastern District of Virginia Judge Patricia Giles said in her ruling that Khan Suri’s detention was in violation of the First Amendment, the right to free speech, and the Fifth Amendment, the right to due process. Giles in her ruling said that the government could not prove that Khan Suri was a flight risk or a national security risk.

‘My eldest son is only nine’

Khan Suri told NBC News that he was only worried about his kids, including a nine-year-old son, and five-year-old twins. “My nine-year-old knows where I am. He was going through very rough times. My wife used to tell me that he was crying. He needs support from mental health.” “There is madness everywhere, but it shouldn’t be in the United States of America. This is a bastion of hope,” Khan Suri said after his release.

‘Don’t regret support for Palestine’

Khan Suri’s wife said he told her that he did not regret marrying a Paletinian and supporting Palestine. “If my suffering in the detention center is because I married to a Palestinian and because I spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, then I should wear it as a badge of honor,” his wife said what Khan Suri told her.