Congress slams Centre's "cavalier manner" on death penalty to 8 Indian ex-Navy men in Qatar

New Delhi [India], October 27 : After eight former Indian Navy personnel were sentenced to the death penalty in Qatar, Congress MP Manish Tewari on Friday criticised the Union Government for dealing with the issue in a "cavalier manner."
Speaking on the issue, Tewari said, "Eight senior decorated officers of the Indian Navy have been sentenced to death on charges which are still not known. I had asked in Lok Sabha what are the charges against him."
"It is astounding to see the cavalier manner in which the NDA-BJP government, Minister Jaishankar and his ministry have dealt with this issue. If anything happens to these 8 people then their blood will be on the hands of NDA-BJP government," he added.
Congress leader Salman Khurshid also said that when there are relations between two countries then "diplomatic ways can be created."
"We cannot say anything until everything comes out. I can express sadness for what has happened. It is not possible for us to accept that the personnel have done anything due to which they are getting punished. When there are relations between two countries, diplomatic ways can be created. This is an important thing for us because the message goes to the whole world," the Congress leader said.
According to the Minister of External Affairs, the Court of First Instance of Qatar passed a verdict awarding the death penalty to the eight former naval officers who were detained in Doha.
The MEA said it is "deeply shocked" by the verdict and now awaits the detailed judgement.
"We have initial information that the Court of First Instance of Qatar has today passed a judgement in the case involving 8 Indian employees of Al Dahra company," the MEA said in an official press release.
"We are deeply shocked by the verdict of the death penalty and are awaiting the detailed judgement. We are in touch with the family members and the legal team, and we are exploring all legal options," it added.
This matter is very important to us, the MEA said adding that they have been keeping a close eye on it.
The eight Indian nationals have been imprisoned in Qatar since October 2022 and were accused of allegedly spying on a submarine programme.
New Delhi had been granted consular access to the eight Indians and had been working to secure their release. The Indian nationals had their first trial in late March.
Meetu Bhargava, who is the sister of one of the officers detained and lives in Gwalior, sought help from the Indian government to bring her brother back.
In a June 8 post on X (formerly Twitter), she had appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to intervene.
"These Ex-Navy officers are the pride of the nation & again I request our Hon'ble Prime Minister with folded hands that it is high time that they all are brought back to India immediately without any further delay pl. @narendramodi @AmitShah @rajnathsingh @MOS_MEA" she posted on X.