For the last two years, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has been conducting “ghar wapsi” of a different kind — ensuring the return of Indian hostages back home from different war-torn regions across the globe. With Indian aid worker Judith D’Souza being the latest to be rescued from Taliban captivity in Afghanistan, the news of which Sushma herself broke on Twitter on Saturday, the number on the Government’s rescue list has gone past the 70 mark so far in two years.
The hostage rescue efforts are besides those for ensuring the release of several Indian prisoners from foreign jails, saving exploited Indian workers from foreign employers (particularly in the Gulf), mass evacuation of Indian nationals from strife-hit zones, and, of course, bringing back home the likes of Geeta from Pakistan and Sonu from Bangladesh.
“Hostage crises are perhaps the most difficult challenge for the MEA. Yet we have been successful in most of the cases, because of a proactive approach led by the External Affairs Minister herself, good ground coordination of our Missions with the local security agencies and requisite support from other friendly countries. It exemplifies the Government’s policy of ensuring safety and security of every Indian citizen living and working abroad,” sources said.
India has no policy to pay ransoms, the sources asserted, adding it is either the employing companies who pay that or the diplomatic channels work to get Indian hostages released.
On Saturday, Judith was brought back from Afghanistan by Indian Ambassador Manpreet Vohra. “Another safe homecoming! A daughter returns home…after her release from captivity,” MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup tweeted on her return to India. When Judith met Sushma, she hugged the Minister and broke down as she thanked the Government’s efforts to rescue her.
Judith, an employee of Agha Khan Foundation, was kidnapped by armed men on June 9. During his visit to Kabul in June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally requested Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to expedite efforts for her release. Sushma thanked the Afghan leadership for her safe return.
Judith was the second Indian to be kidnapped in Afghanistan after Jesuit Priest Father Alex Prem Kumar, who was abducted from Herat by Taliban in June 2014. India managed to bring him back after eight months and the news of his release was broken by the PM himself.
There are other success stories as well: Two Indians kidnapped in Nigeria in June were rescued within a month. Four teachers were rescued from libya along with an IT professional, 11 sailors were rescued from sea pirates with the help of Nigerian Navy besides the 46 nurses from Iraq.
Actually, Sushma’s test began in June 2014, shortly after she took over as the External Affairs Minister, when 39 Indian men and 46 nurses were held hostage in war-torn Iraq. Though India managed to rescue all the nurses, the release of 39 Indian workers and that of Father Tom Uzhunnali from ISIS captivity in Yemen still remains a challenge for the Government.
“We are trying our best to rescue Fr Tom Uzhunnali. Our major constraint is we have no Embassy in Yemen,” Sushma said. Despite odds against her, Sushma refuses to give up on those kidnapped, like the 39 Indians in Iraq, about whom she says the Government has ample proof they are alive.
“When I say they are alive, I take up a greater responsibility on myself to search for them… In the last two years I have not abandoned any Indian citizen. They may be alone, in groups or in captivity. In the case of Father Prem Kumar, we could solve it only after eight months but we did it and brought him back alive. At present, Father Tom is in captivity, these 39 people are also kept as hostages. My efforts will be to bring back each and every Indian citizen, whether they are stuck or held hostages, eventually, sooner or later,” Sushma said during her annual Press conference.
Sushma’s workload increased manifold with violence engulfing several countries. In the last two years, India has evacuated more than 7,000 Indians from Iraq, 3,500 from libya, 4,500 from Yemen, and most recently 146 from South Sudan.
Besides, the Modi Government managed to get released 11 from Nigerian jail, 23 from prisons in Qatar, 12 sailors from jail in Italy, 49 fishermen from Iran, four from Syria -- the list is long. The Government also managed to secure Royal pardon for 69 Indians languishing in Bahrain jail. Rescuing Indians from their employers, mainly in the Gulf too have been a challenge, and now the MEA has made recruiting agents responsible to get Indians released by their employers on foreign soil.
“There are so many stories.. from Geeta to Gurpreet….You see this as a daily occurrence that when an Indian abroad is in distress, he or she seeks help. If any Indian citizen is in crisis I have never lagged behind in helping him or her,” she said.
“We’ve had many Foreign Ministers but everybody knows about the outstanding work of Union Minister Sushma Swaraj,” PM Narendra Modi had once said for her. And, the External Affairs Minister passes on the credit to the diplomats for their efforts. like the one in Judith’s case: “Ambassador @VohraManpreet - you have done an outstanding job,” she tweeted on Friday. And she never forgets to thank the foreign governments, as she did in Afghanistan’s case.