Mother Nature has
given another grim reminder that how fallible we humans are. The earth quake in Nepal
and some parts of India has not just claimed Human casualties, but it has also
resulted in innumerable and unrepairable damages.
Many precious Historical monuments which hitherto stood as testimony to the
human development over ages got destroyed in a minute. Many families lost their
members, which means the shattering of many hopes, dreams and aspirations. It’s
a time for humanity to stand together to wither this challenge nature has
thrown before us. India has responded to this challenge immediately as we see
the reports of relief materials and rescue teams being sent to Nepal.
Indian Air force is also doing a heroic job
in this hour. They have sent two MI-17 choppers, two C-17 Globe master, one
C-130J Super Hercules, and one IL-76 on rescue operation. IAF personnel already
have rescued hundreds of Indians stranded in Nepal.
Indian Ministry of External affairs has also
responded quickly to the situation. Since, in such situations the water tends
to become polluted, Rail
ministry has dispatched 1 lakh Rail Neer water bottle to Nepal through Indian
Air force. BSNL has announced that all
calls to Nepal will be charged at Local call rates for the next three days,
immediately after the earth quake. Indian govt. has sent so far Relief teams,
Medicines, Communication gear, Fuel, Earth-mover vehicles, Drinking water,
Mobile field hospitals, Army Engineers task forces and Sniffer dogs. Many
Indian Spiritual Gurus and Social service organizations like RSS have also sent
relief materials and their volunteers on rescue mission.
All
these relief works are happening at an unprecedented professional level and it
comes in the wake of the historic rescue operation in Yemen named ‘raahat’ and
which drew immense praise from media the world over (except ours). The Indian
government didn’t shrug its responsibility citing that those people were working
at a conflict zone. It did what a parent would do when their son or daughter is
in trouble. It was diplomacy at its best. In fact, Japanese television channels carried
a special news bulletin about India’s commendable rescue operations in Yemen.
But the Thankless efforts of gen. V.K Singh and Mrs. Sushma Swaraj were only
derided by our main stream media and some even mocked it shamelessly. Our
government chose to speak only through action, which is louder than the rants
of our ‘pressitudes’ as gen. V.K.Singh labelled them, an understandable vent of
ire against our ungrateful main stream media. The efforts were so effective
that over 26 countries including the U.S. and U.K. sought India’s help in rescuing their citizens. Many SAARC nations directly
requested Indian assistance, and those like the U.S. which did not launch any rescue mission of their own, since, they were the
allies of Saudi Arabia which has launched the attacks against Yemen, were in a
fix as there ships would have been seen as an enemy vessel by the Hoothi Rebels
which controlled/controls the Airport in Sana and the ports. So USA simply
listed Indian Embassy numbers in Yemen on their
own travel advisories, urging citizens to contact Indian officials for help.
The Indian Air Force C-17 Globe masters took back families to India, while the Indian Navy deployed INS Mumbai, INS Sumitra, and INS Tarkash in rescue operations in Yemen.
These
relief operations and rescue missions are something which every responsible
state has to do. But in India it’s not just the state but the response of the
people in general which commands respect and attention. The Indian society has
responded instantaneously in support of the suffering people, though the
disaster happened in another country. This is something unique and innate to
the Indian society which gets its inspiration from its age old value system. In
fact, it was seen in great contrast to some soul harvesting missionaries trying
to fish in the troubled waters.
Led
by India, SAARC is soon going have a Disaster Monitoring System with technical,
manpower and financial assistance from India to smaller nations in the region.
This is true leadership that was always conspicuous by its absence under earlier
rule. Glad we at last got an able leadership that will take us to next levels
of strength and prosperity
V.V.Balasubramanian
YB-ET