India offers all help to filmmaker Vijay Kumar

NEW DELHI - India Friday said it was ready to provide all possible assistance to filmmaker Vijay Kumar and clarified that Canada had said he had been questioned for want of documentation but not detained.

“It is understood that Vijay Kumar flew into Vancouver from Houston Sep 16. The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) has informed the high commission of India that he was questioned allegedly for want of appropriate documentation and he is not under detention,” the external affairs ministry said here.

The ministry said the Consulate General of India in Vancouver was in touch with CBSA and Baldev Singh Sandhu, the attorney of Vijay Kumar.

However, the ministry added that Sandhu cited Canadian privacy laws and refused to share any information about the status, location or plans of Vijay Kumar.

The consulate has offered to provide all possible assistance to Vijay Kumar, the ministry said.

The 40-year-old filmmaker, who was arrested and jailed in the US for carrying brass knuckles and “jehadi literature” in his baggage, flew to Vancouver from Houston early this week.

He was detained Aug 20 at the Houston airport for unwittingly violating a Texas law forbidding people from carrying brass knuckles at airports.

A resident of Malad in Mumbai, Vijay Kumar was sentenced to 20 days in jail and given credit for time served. He agreed to the plea deal to avoid further jail time and immigration charges.

Vijay Kumar has now aired apprehensions that he may face a similar ordeal in Canada.

“Those people told me I have a criminal background, so you can’t enter Canada and so we are going to deport you. Then I told them that I am not a criminal, I just have a misdemeanour case in the US,” he told Times Now channel.

“I have a valid visa and I got the option of voluntary departure from the US. I have a valid visa and hence I told them (Canadians) that you cannot deport me, I do not want to be deported,” he said.

“They told me I was under examination and they did not put me in jail. I was allowed to go to the hotel. They have seized my identity card and other legal documents. They told me that it would take another 2-3 days. I have been called every day and they have interrogated me in detail.”

Asked why he did not return to India immediately after his release from the Houston prison, he said he was afraid to return home.