Operation 'Rahat'

We leave our land to earn our bread, or  a better life style.  But what if the dream starts to backfire? The land which you thought would fetch you a shining future starts to witness the thunder and glitter of bombs and bullets shattering every dream of yours. You then think of one place – Home.  That’s what the expatriates are thinking about in Yemen right now.

The strife torn Yemen has been witnessing an internal warlike situation from few day resulting in its president fleeing the country and supposed murder of its ministers. A country that has been suffering from a civil war like situation has not been quiet after the Arab spring that started in 2011. That resulted in the termination of a 20-year rule of Ali Abdullah Saleh.  Even his ouster didn’t calm the situation for a very long period as the Houthi rebels started creating nuisance right after Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was sworn in as new president. The shi’ite Hoauthi majorly present in the northern Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi was sworn in as new president. The shi’ite Hoauthi majorly present in the northern Yemen was not settling with the Hadi government and finally managed a coup d’état in January this year.

 The strife has resulted in a chaos in the country disturbing its citizens as well as expatriates. Citizen for a reason cannot leave their houses but the expatriates feel like trapped in a country where they thought of a better life. Indian nationals comprising every class like nurses to techies, workers to officers were trapped feeling helpless along with others. It was only then Indian government realized that the situation was grim and its citizen was left at God’s mercy.

The MEA including the cabinet minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj , State minister Gen. V.K. Singh and Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddinn came to forefront with valiant effort to leave no stone unturned to evacuate our fellow countrymen. The Indian Navy, Air force, Air India, Shipping, Railways & State Govts have made commendable effort in rescue operation.

The story doesn’t end here. Apart from saving more than 3300 Indians, these brave hearts have rescued citizen from 26 (and counting) nations catching the due attention of the world. The humanitarian effort put in by these valiant fighters needs a thousand standing ovation. In a situation when saving one life turns out to be a mammoth task, our government and the armed forces have saved thousands of lives and are must be saving even when I am writing this piece.

The letters, facebook messages, tweets and what not were posted by foreign nationals like German, U.S and many other developed nations, mentioning the effort that has been put by the India. It fills me proud to be living to see such moments when countries once loathing you for the supposed backwardness appear to the fore with token of appreciation and a request for seeking help.

I should congratulate the Indian government as a whole and especially the soldiers who have been incessantly worked on this mission “Operation Rahat”. The soldiers whose name will never be published or telecasted have again proved that they are the headgear of our nation and we must all be proud of them.