Indian Newslink Feb 15, 2016 Digital Edition

12 HOMELINK
February 15, 2016
The English Fortnightly (Since November 1999)
Issue 340 | February 15, 2016
Film betrays the Kuwaiti Theatre
Airlift’ may be an entertaining
film but the increasing
number of dissenting
comments have prompted
this Leader.
Just as Iraq invaded and
occupied Kuwait on August 2,
1990, the Amir of Kuwait (the late)
Jaber Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah
fled to Saudi Arabia (he remained
in Taif until liberation on February
28, 1991) and soon obtained the
sympathy and support of the five
other countries of the Arab Gulf
Cooperation Council (Bahrain,
Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates), which
in turn sought the support of the
United States of America.
The Grand Alliance of many
powerful countries (led by USA
and Great Britain) began, although
the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) and France had
their reservations. It was this
group of allies that imposed strangulating
sanctions against Iraq,
stepped their military presence
in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain and
prepared for ‘Operation Desert
Shield,’ and later ‘Operation Desert
Storm.’ Interestingly, many other
countries including India followed
their policy of ‘Non-Alignment,’
although New Delhi had to
strike a deal with Iraqi President
Saddam Hussain (see our stories
in this issue) to prevent him from
using more than 170,000 Indian
expatriates in Kuwait as ‘human
shields’ (a threat that he issued
openly) and close the Indian
Embassy in Kuwait.
Saddam’s argument was simple:
Kuwait was not a sovereign
country – it had become the 19th
Province of Iraq – and hence had
no place for diplomatic missions.
Most other countries including
the United States of America and
United Kingdom refused to shut
their embassies but simply asked
all staff to return home or relocate
to Baghdad or Jordan.
Great Evacuation
There were many developments
that occurred following the
arrival of the Iraqi troops at 2
am on that fateful day in August
(2.8.1990). Minutes later, a British
Airways commercial aircraft
landed with American and British
passport holders, many of them
of Indian origin. They could not
leave Kuwait since all commercial
flights were banned by the allied
forces. Fearing for their lives,
many of them destroyed their
American and British passports to
join the exodus that later came to
be known as ‘the Greatest Human
Evacuation in History.’
Throughout the occupation of
Kuwait, there were no reports of
the Iraqi troops harming foreigners,
although Saddam constantly
threatened to do so. A few lost
their lives, mostly caught during
cross-fires or openly defying the
trigger-happy Iraqi military that
was roaming the streets.
Although Kuwait was totally
destroyed (the Editor of this
newspaper is an eyewitness to the
massacre), there were no mass
executions. Hundreds of Kuwaitis
used to hold secret meetings to
discuss the possibility of electing
a more powerful Parliament
(Kuwait was the first country to
have an elected House of People’s
Representatives in the Arab Gulf
but was forever at loggerheads
with the government) but they did
not yield the desired results.
Goodwill visit
India’s External Affairs Minister
Inder Kumar Gujral visited Iraq
and met Saddam at his Baghdad
Palace in September 1990, about a
month after the Kuwaiti occupation.
That visit paved the way for
the ‘Greatest Human evacuation
in History,’ with Mr Gujral himself
taking about 120 Indian expatriates
in his special Indian Airforce
aircraft. Among them were a few
people of Indian origin who were
holed up at Al Rashid Hotel.
While thousands of Indians
left Kuwait when the Indian
government commenced its
evacuation operations, it is wrong
to assume that it involved all the
170,000 Indians estimated to have
lived in the oil-rich Gulf State at
that time. Thousands preferred
to stay back and carry on their
lives. Since evacuation through
Saudi Arabia was not possible, the
Indian government decided to do
so through Amman, the Capital
of Jordan. There were no direct
flights from that city to India, and
as an offline station, Amman was
serviced by Air India, Bahrain.
Spreading fear
Again, the fear complex was not
restricted to Kuwait. Hundreds
of Indians living in Saudi Arabia
and Bahrain were also allowed to
leave the respective countries (it
was their choice) terminating their
employment contracts and taking
all benefits including leaving
indemnity, one-way air ticket and
other allowances.
While the first batch of evacuees
who accompanied Mr Gujral did
not have any time to even pack
their belongings, those living
in Kuwait had sufficient time
to do so. It was undoubtedly a
harrowing experience for Indians
but their safety was assured by
Saddam and his military. In fact,
as Captain Zain Juvale mentions
in his articles appearing in this
Section and under Homelink, Iraqi
soldiers were empathetic towards
Indians even during the early days
of occupation.
To those of us who have
witnessed the developments in
Kuwait and other neighbouring
countries during the months that
ran from August 1990 to March
1991, ‘Airlift’ would be betrayal of
the worst kind.
We will carry more of these and
an opinion piece that appeared in
leading Indian newspapers in our
next issue.
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There was nothing like
‘Airlift’
The Hero is also a myth
First of three parts
Captain Zain Juvale
My mind goes back to
that fateful day of
August 2, 1990, and
the events which
unfolded thereafter. I was
the Captain (Master) of the
Panamanian ship ‘Safeer’ in
Port Shuwaikh, Kuwait. On that
memorable day, Iraqi forces
invaded Kuwait, and took control
of that country. We faced
a tense and nervous moment
when a fleet of 15 fighter planes
flew over our ship and dropped
bombs all around us.
Fortunately, none of them hit
our ship.
In captivity
On the following day, I and
my crew of 25 were captured
by the invading Iraqi forces. We
were all forced to line up on the
wharf in a straight line, with
our hands on our heads, and
each one of us faced the barrel
of the fierce looking guns,
barely six inches from our eyes,
and with their fingers ready on
the triggers.
Additionally, each one of us
had a soldier behind our backs
with their rifles pointing at our
heads. It was like facing a firing
squad at point blank range
from both sides.
All our eyes were nervously
transfixed on the fingers
waiting to pull the triggers,
with our hearts beating faster,
trembling with fear, a prayer
on our lips, and thoughts of our
families back home running
through our minds.
Mercifully, to our great relief,
the triggers were not pulled at
that time, but still we waited
with abated breath pondering
about our fate.
35 ordeal days
It was the beginning of our
35 days of ordeal, and trauma
of captivity and uncertainty.
We lived in constant fear and
trepidation with the Sword of
Damocles hanging over our
heads.
During this period, we had
no communication with our
families in India, or with
anyone in the outside world.
The ship's local agents had run
away from Kuwait, and even
the ship's owners were not
contactable.
As we were isolated inside
the Port from the rest of the
world, we had no clue as to
what was happening in Kuwait
or anywhere else.
One day, escorted by the Iraqi
soldiers, I and my Chief Officer
went in search of our passports,
which I believed were kept in
one of the ransacked Immigration
Offices on the wharf. While
we did so, the Iraqi soldiers
were helping themselves to all
the electronic gadgets including
computers and telephones.
Just then I noticed a phone in
a cabin with the door left ajar,
and the key in the door.
I quickly shut the door and
locked the cabin and kept the
Thousands of Indians were evacuated from Kuwait in 1990 following the Iraqi occupation.
The picture here shows one plane load of anxious Indians
key with me.
Only lifeline
This phone was to later
become my only lifeline to the
outside world (outside the port).
At night, under the cover of
darkness, I used to sneak out of
my ship and tread very quietly
to the wharf, (not taking the
risk of being seen by the Iraqi
soldiers), and try to contact
some people in Kuwait.
To my utter disappointment,
most of the local phones were
dead, and no international calls
could be made. However, at a
much later stage, after many
futile attempts, I managed to
establish my first contact with
the Indian Embassy in Kuwait,
after dialling their number
non-stop for over two hours, in
total darkness.
A few days into captivity, the
stock of water and provisions
on board had depleted. The
original stock itself was limited
since our plan was to sail to
Dubai after two days of halt
in Kuwait with replenished
food and water. No one had
anticipated this invasion and
our detention. Initially, we had
to resort to rationing, so as to be
prepared for the worst.
But thankfully, with tactful
negotiations with Iraqi soldiers,
we managed to get some
provisions and water.
I have often wondered
thereafter as to how I gathered
the courage to stand up to the
armed Iraqis (who were in a
murderous and plundering
mood) and negotiate with them,
at times even challenging some
of their decisions.
Establishing trust
They must have secretly admired
my courage and at times
even went out of their way to
accommodate my requests. As
our captivity came to an end, I
had the audacity to believe that
I was calling the shots with full
cooperation of the Iraqis!
Trust, politeness and courtesy
often yields good results, and
this is true of even militants,
as I discovered with the Iraqis.
Persistence and perseverance
also helped in our situation.
The Iraqis even acceded to my
request for us to play Cricket on
the wharf, under their watchful
eyes.
They surrounded us in a
circle, with perplexed looks on
their faces, and wondered about
this strange game.
However, the entire situation
could have changed at any time,
had they received orders from
the top to just shoot us all. Our
main worry was that if a full
scale war broke out, the Americans
would attack the port area
first, and any chances of our
escaping would be doomed.
We could even be caught in a
cross-fire.
(To be continued)
Editor’s Note: Those of us who lived in Kuwait and/or covered
the occupation of the Arab Gulf State by Iraq from August 2,
1990 and the ‘Gulf Storm’, the First Gulf War that led to the
liberation of Kuwait on February 28, 1991 (after five days of
war), would know that the recently released Hindi film ‘Airlift’
is nothing more than a hero-centred imagination and divorced
from truth. While the evacuation of Indians from Kuwait
through Amman, Jordan and not through Saudi Arabia (which
would have been easier and faster) was undoubtedly the single
largest human exercise of the modern era, it was nothing like
what the film portrayed. I was among those who was in Kuwait
the days following its liberation and what I saw and reported
was more heart-rending and tragic than anyone could have imagined.
The film has become a topic of discussion and Captain
Zain Juvale has written a three-part report (in addition to one
appearing under Homelink) which will be complemented by
my remarks. If you have been involved in the Kuwaiti Theatre
during the Iraqi occupation,
please write to editor@indiannewslink.co.nz