Muhammad Tariq Alkhattab-Pilgrim
[email protected]
Thursday, February 4, 2016
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Vice President, Prime Minister of the UAE & Emir of Dubai
Prime Minister’s Office
P.O. Box 212000 Dubai
United Arab Emirates
Letter To: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum
Re: The Silent Injustice
Your Esteemed Highness you are a Leader who inspires, who leads with emotional intelligence. Your leadership goes beyond the Middle East; you are admired internationally for your futuristic ideas, compassion for all people, love for your nation and for your integrity.
I am Muhammad Tariq Alkhattab Pilgrim, 60 + years, a simple man. I accepted Islam more than 30 years ago I am a Canadian citizen residing in the UAE, and I have chosen to write this open letter to you because I am a victim of oppression (it is oppression when someone unfairly makes your life harder because they have the power to do so rather than because you did anything wrong) and violation of the rights accorded me by the constitution of the UAE. All mechanisms for seeking justice and trying to reach your office failed. I have been met with a wall of silence and disrespect. You have eloquently stated, as quoted below:
1. There is no room for corruption and the corrupt. In all corruption cases, people are not only prosecuted and punished, but administrative and legal holes that they exploited to commit their crimes are plugged. No one in the Emirates is above the law and accountability.
H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Dubai Ruler, April 2009.
2. Esteemed Sheikh Mohammed, Ruler of Dubai, on 7 October, 2010, spoke the following poetic words: Justice is the cornerstone of economic prosperity, society’s safety and security, and a shelter for the weak.
I am an investor, and I once owned a technology solutions company with 13 employees. An Emirati national used his power as an Emirati and his family connections to destroy my SME despite it being an illegal act. He was my business associate with no administrative powers, as stated in the Memorandum of Understanding. He was for all intent and purposes a silent partner. That being legally clear and documented he used his status as an Emirati to destroy and slander me as a person. He did not have the legal right to destroy the company, but he chose to, and in the process he dehumanized me as an expat because I refused to comply with a request he demanded.
His family member works/worked for a Telecommunication Company in the UAE, and without my permission or request, all communications to my technology company were disconnected, and a business with 13 employees and four years in the market was destroyed overnight. The request was made by my Emirati business associate and his family member. I have tried every strategy and angle to get justice for the injustice, but the wall of silence remains.
I have received death threats that included my family as well, harassment letters with the logo of the telecommunications company from the abovementioned employee and a mail explaining that that employee had access to my mails and phone calls and was monitoring them. I have evidence of mails and blasphemous text messages which clearly showed that the act was planned and perfectly executed. It is now 4 + years, and I am still waiting for justice. I was told to go home and give it up: “Life happens; you are an expat; do not expect justice.” I refuse to accept that, and I refuse to surrender my dignity; it is all that I have left.
Because of the injustice I have lost everything financially as well as my health; I suffer from PTSD, high blood pressure and an enlarged heart. I am unable to work, sleep or think I am destitute and spiraling into poverty and homelessness. I am without hope due to the injustice. I am an old man, and I am risking even more by writing this letter to you.
However, I know that you are a just and righteous leader and that you need to know of the injustices and oppression that go unnoticed. Such acts do not reflect the image of Dubai which you expound to the world.
I have tried every available avenue to get help. I received empathy and warm words that this is Dubai and that things like this cannot happen here, that this is a city with laws and will not tolerate that investors are treated in such a manner. It would negatively affect other international investors who are considering investment here. But it did, in fact, happen to me. My business was destroyed (telecommunications lines cut) because I refused to comply with a request from my business associate, who is an Emirati while I am an expat. The final blow after four years is “the ruling said yes, the lines were cut because someone feared that the company would not be able to pay the telecommunications bills in the future”.
Your Highness this has happened to me. It is 2016, and this is Dubai, the land of opportunities and a vibrant country that invites foreign investment. This should not be a precedent. It would discourage investors in SMEs. I am still in the UAE, and I have nothing else to lose; my life is already lost. Your Highness, I humbly plead for your intervention in this matter.
