Mixed emotions dominated the scene on Saturday as 46 Indian nurses emerged out of the immigration doors of the Kochi International Airport. These nurses, who were stranded in Tikrit for almost 25 days, were released by ISIS jehadis on the border between the Iraqi territory under their control and Kurdistan. They were handed over to Indian Embassy officials in Erbil on Friday. They had been taken to Mosul from Tikrit on Thursday.
“We thank God and all who helped us, felt anxious for us and prayed for us. We are grateful to the Indian Government, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, our Ambassador to Iraq, Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, the media and the ISIS insurgents who kept us well like our brothers would do,” said one of the nurses as she came out of the Kochi Airport building at Nedumbassery. The nurses said they were treated nicely by their captors and were given food and shelter before being released.
Asked whether they would want to go back to Iraq once things became normal there, most of the nurses answered in the negative. “No, I won’t go again despite all the financial difficulties I am going to face. The memories of what we went through are that disturbing,” said Neena, a nurse from Thalayolapparambu, Kottayam.
The Indian Government had dispatched Air India Boeing 777-200 aircraft to Erbil from Delhi on Friday night to bring these nurses home. Of the 46 nurses, one is from Tuticorin (Tamil Nadu) while the rest from Kerala. There were 137 other Indians, including 78 people from Andhra Pradesh who disembarked at Hyderabad also on the flight. The plane landed at Kochi at 11.52 am on Saturday, almost eight hours after take-off from Erbil. In between, the flight made a technical halt at Mumbai at 8.53 am.
“The release of these girls is a victory of collective effort. The External Affairs Department and Minister Sushma Swaraj had shown immense interest in the matter,” said Kerala Chief Minister Chandy, who had reached Kochi Airport accompanied by many of his Cabinet colleagues and other people’s representatives to receive the nurses.
Hundreds of people, including political leaders, activists, representatives of various voluntary agencies and associations of non-resident Keralites were there to greet the nurses at the airport. Slogans praising Chandy for making possible the release of the nurses were also heard on the airport premises.
In Kochi, airport authorities had ensured one runway was devoted for the special Air India flight. A team of doctors and paramedics was stationed at the airport to meet any emergency situation. Special arrangements were also in place for quick clearance at the Immigration and Customs counters. Vehicles were arranged to take the nurses home. Each nurse was also handed Rs 5,000 for meeting their immediate expenses.
All the nurses were given a warm welcome in their respective villages. People received them with sweet pudding, garlands and bouquets. Of the 45 Keralite nurses, 17 are from Kottayam, 9 from Kannur and the remaining are from Pathanamthitta, Idukki, Palakkad and Ernakulam districts.
In New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry officials said the return of the Indians from Iraq has gathered pace and more and more people are now registering with authorities to fly home. About 200 expatriates were scheduled to reach Delhi on Saturday night from Najaf by a special chartered flight of Iraqi Airways. Approximately 400 more Indians will be returning to various destinations like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, through commercial flights, over the next two days.
It is estimated that about 1,200 people would have returned to India at Government’s cost by Monday. According to spokesperson of Ministry of External Affairs, the Indian Mission in Baghdad has been able to persuade Iraqi companies to send back approximately 600 other Indian nationals. Besides, the Indian Mission is also separately processing papers of about 400 more persons working in some major companies. Once these are processed the total number of Indians who would have returned to India in the last fortnight would be about 2,200.
With nurses safely home, Congress Deputy leader in the lok Sabha Captain Amarinder Singh has urged the Government to intensify efforts for the release of the 39 construction workers who are still in captivity of ISIS in Iraq. Most of these workers are from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. He said it is now more than two weeks since the youths had been last able to contact their relatives back home.