Harvard Alumni demand immediate release of Dr. Roop Jyoti

Harvard University alumni on Thursday asked the government to release Dr Roop Jyoti and his family members from imprisonment.
Dr. Jyoti was arrested from Tribhuwan International Airport upon his return from Singapore on November 7.
“Independent press reports suggest that Dr. Roop Jyoti was charged for a crime he was not involved in,” reads the press note released by Nepali students and alumni members of Harvard University. “A multi-year and multi-party business dispute that should and could have been settled via a mediation or arbitration process appears to have been blown out of proportion into a criminal offence – targeting Dr. Roop Jyoti and resulting in his arrest,” the press note adds.
“We are troubled by media reports that suggest that Dr. Jyoti is being harassed because he refused to succumb to extortion,” reads the statement, signed by more than two dozen Nepal students from Harvard University and alumni members. “We demand that the authorities investigate this charge.”
Expressing their hopes that the rule of law will prevail the alumni members, said, “While we expect the rule of law to prevail and to take its course, the circumstances and the manner in which Dr. Jyoti and his family are being treated appear to be arbitrary, disproportionate and unfair.”
The alumni members also strongly urged the Government of Nepal to free Dr. Jyoti and his family members. “As not doing so would send an adverse signal that the authorities in Nepal can arrest anyone under any pretext, thereby ruining the person’s reputation, damaging the worth of their societal contributions, and casting a chill in the way that civil society and the private sector operate with rights and privileges granted by the Constitution of Nepal,” the press note further reads.
Renowned businessman, philanthropist and Vipassana meditation teacher, Dr. Jyoti who completed his PHD from the prestigious Harvard University in 1999, is currently under police custody due to a case filed by Bigendra Krishna Malla against him.
However, Malla on Wednesday took his case back and said donot want to move to Court. The Police might release Dr Jyoti on Friday. But the surprise arrest of Dr Jyoti – under the charge of fraud that is not criminal case – has raised eyebrows of all quarters. The unlikely fast move of Nepal’s police and the involvement of government in the case has also sent a negative message to the investors, domestic and foreign. The ‘treatment’ to the eight-decade old Jyoti Group has also terrorised the private sector. The Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), Nepal Chambers of Commerce (NCC), Nada Automobiles Association of Nepal, Nepal-China Chambers, National Business Initiative (NBI) and various business institutions have also issued the press note protesting against the government move to defame a reputed business group and Dr Jyoti. The private sector on Thursday also held a rally protesting the arrest of Dr Jyoti.