August 18, 2002.

We are reproducing the letter from the family due to the humanitarian issue involved. A family in distress need your support..send ur support mails to editor@keralamonitor.com

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Yesterday after leaving the Embassy we went to visit a friend of ours.
At 5 o'clock we went back to our residence in the school campus. When we
reached there the school's gates were closed and we were not allowed to
enter. Then others who were inside told us that the school authorities had
broken open our house and entered and thrown out all our belongings. Yet
they did not allow us to enter the school's premises.

All our personal belongings were inside our house. We had been staying there
for the last 7 years. My wife's jewellery, money, my personal documents, my
files, our certificates and all that we held dear in our life were strewn
all over the place and outsiders were going through it. We were shut out of
the building and could not enter. My wife, my two children aged 9 and 11
years old and myself waited there till 12 midnight and then when they still
did not allow us to go in, we had to seek refuge in a friend's car-shed.

I would like to know why such things are happening in a civilized world. How
can a school working under the patronage of the Embassy of India in Tehran
do this kind of illegal act? Isn't breaking and entering a criminal offence?
They could have got an eviction order and asked me to vacate. They could
have waited one more day, since my visa was expiring today I would have been
forced to leave the country and I would have left. Why did they do this, if
not to harass me further and ruin me? All our property and valuables and
whatever we held dear are all gone. We are in a foreign land where we cannot
even complain.

Please help a family in distress. I don't know what kind of lies the Embassy
of India has been feeding you all, but the atmosphere in Tehran is very bad.
The community is living in total fear, but the Embassy is driving them to
the wall. They are not even given a leeway.

Please help us and save us from total
collapse.

Yours truly,

Jerry & Cheryl Thomas

Keralite family thrown out from life..?

What a horrible experience we had today. Tomorrow is our last day in Tehran.
After that we have to leave Tehran. So we went to the Aliens office because
they had told us to come there and they had asked the Embassy of India's man
who usually does all the visa and other such work to come. The Embassy's
man, Mr. Basheer Azad insisted that we go to the Embassy of India to settle
matters. We were totally against it since what happened to Mr. Shree Ram
Mohindra, the 83 year old Indian in Tehran is still fresh in our minds. But
Mr. Basheer Azad insisted that we go and he guaranteed the Alien Office
authorities that he will make sure that we get our tickets and other bills
settled.

The Alien office authorities told us to go since Mr. Basheer Azad was so
sure. We told them what had happened to the 83 year old gentleman, but they
told us not to worry and everything will be sorted. So we went to the Indian
Embassy. This is what exactly happened in the Embassy of Indian on
17-8-2002.

We reached the Embassy at exactly 12-30p.m. Saturday is a holiday for the
Indian Embassy in Tehran, but Mr.... was in office. He asked Mr. Basheer
Azad why he had brought us there. He said that the school had to settle
matters with us. Anyhow since we were there he called for the Principal.
Soon Mr. .. appeared over there. As soon as Mr. .. came he asked us why we had come there. We told him that Mr. Basheer Azad had brought us there to settle accounts and that we had not come on our own.

Mr. ..asked us what were our demands. We said we have no
demands, but what we wanted was our contractual dues and our airticket. Mr.
kept on saying that the matter should be settled in the school,
but Mr...ok gave scant regard to him and told us if we wanted any
settlement first we have to tender an unconditional apology. If we didn't do
that there was no need for further talk. He insisted that they will pay us
any of our dues only after we gave them a written unconditional apology. He
also wanted our passports and told us if we wanted airfare, we had to give
him our passports.

We told him that apologizing was out of the question. When for the last so
many months we were suffering untold misery and hardships I cannot
understand how that man could ask us to apologize, and for what. Even now we don't know what our faults or mistakes are. They have been illegally
terminated of our services without assigning any reason and now they are
asking us to apologize. ...We also told him that we will not give our passports to him.

So also what we cannot understand is what Mr...was doing there and giving us orders. The Embassy of India should not be a place where
ordinary businessmen dictate terms to others. When Mr. Giroh told that we
were eligible for one way ticket, Mr. P.S. Chandhok insisted that the
Embassy need pay us only after we are arrested by the Iranian police.... He was giving directions to all present as if the Embassy of India belonged to him.

Since he was not ready to talk further without the apology, our dialogue
ended abruptly and we came back home. While we were just outside the Embassy gates Mr. Basheer Azad came running and shouted at the gate keeper not to allow us to go. The way he was shouting was as if we were some sort of
criminals and were escaping from there. We did not bother about him but went
on our way.The gatekeeper did not stop us either.

What I can't understand is why everyone going to the Embassy of India in
Tehran is made to apologize. Is there an apology Raj going on? This is too
much to bear. So also, why is everybody afraid of the Embassy of India?

Another interesting thing is what Mr... told about you. He said,
go tell that rascal at keralamonitor.com not to write bullshit. What does he
think he can do? Don't think you can escape with these kind of bullshit.

We are still where we were. Tomorrow is our last day of legal stay. We don't
have our airfare and any money. How can we leave this place? Please help us.
Suggest some way out.

Thank you very much for everything you have been doing. Your reports have
been welcomed by one and all in Tehran. They claim that God has send a
savior to help the Indian community in Tehran. We are very proud of your
courage and guts. How we wish all newspaper people were like you! With your able support we can cleanse this place and set an example for one and all.

Yours sincerely,

Jerry & Cheryl Thomas