CPI(M) Intervention Brings Stranded Indian Home

SWAPAN Roy saw the dance of death from very near. He is an eyewitness to the crude attacks by Israel on Lebanon. By profession he is an engineer from Pune. He has been deployed by his company after it entered an agreement with a Lebanese company for construction of a project. He reached Lebanon on July 11, a day ahead of the Israeli attack on the plea that its soldiers were abducted by Hizabollah, a militant outfit turned into a political one. He was stunned by the uninterrupted raining of bombs.

Ultimately, after the CPI(M) central leadership’s intervention, he reached home safely after four day’s of struggle. Probably he is the only person who reached India from Lebanon before the government prepared for evacuation of Indians. He shared his horrific experience with the INN.

“On our company’s mission, I and my colleague Hemant Kulakarni reached Lebanon on July 11. As soon as we alighted at Beirut International Airport the first news we heard of was about 2 Israeli soldiers abducted by Hizabollah. Everyone was busy in this backdrop. We did not expect that Israel would pound Lebanon the very next day. The only international airport in Lebanon is in Beirut. Apparently the first place of Israel’s concentration for attack was also Beirut. They did not spare leave even a single foot of land in Beirut and its surroundings from bombing. At that time we were visiting Pela Valley near the city.

“Israel is of the opinion that the Hizabollah militia is sheltered in the hilly areas. Hence it started pounding hills with its aerial bombing. We were lucky enough to escape from their attack. With fear for life we tried our best to leave the country and reach back home. With the international airport’s destruction we did not find any alternative mode to leave the country. Our hopes were on Indian embassy and we tried to contact them. Their first response was that “they had not received any direction from the Indian government. Due to the ongoing attacks our embassy was closed on the day. So we were in despair. We found nobody to help and save us. If the Indian embassy staff had spoken to us on phone, it would have been a great relief for us. But that did not happen.

“Then following our client’s advice we hired a taxi to the Syrian boarder. For some hours we encountered no trouble. Everyday, only 50 people are allowed to cross the border between Lebanon and Syria. Due to the expected attacks, about half million people had reached the border to save themselves and their families. After travelling for some time we walked towards the border. The conditions there were not suitable for human beings. Most of the border is surrounded by hills. Due to the non-availability of food and drinking water the situation became worse. There we saw a pandemonium due to the large, directionless crowd waiting for rays of hope. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Russia had made arrangements to evacuate their nationals. But we found no Indian embassy representatives there.

“After reaching Syria we communicated our difficulties to our relatives by phone. They in turn contacted the CPI(M) central leadership. Comrades Sitaram Yechury, Brinda Karat, V Srinivasarao intervened and spoke to the concerned authorities in the ministry of external affairs. Brinda Karat spoke to foreign secretary. We faced problems to reach even Indian embassy in Syria. No place was available even for rest. All hotels were filled with the refugees from Lebanon. We could not find any place in Indian embassy in Damascus. One driver was on leave on the day. So at last we took some rest in his room for a few hours. We can count hours when we slept during those four days. We engaged a car to reach the airport in Damascus. The car driver drove us to his home to feed us first. We were astonished by his hospitality. We almost wept. There should be no division of caste, creed, and religion --- these words of that driver are still reverberating in our ears. With the help of Indian embassy there, we finally secured tickets for India and, having spent about 36 hours at different airports, we ultimately reached home safely.” (INN)