Indian Newslink 15th Sept 2016 Digital Edition

SEPTEMBER 15, 2016
02 HOMELINK
Master and owner debate on shipping Indians out of Kuwait
Second of three Parts
Following the release of ‘Air Lift,’ a Hindi film early this year, a number of people including the Editor of
this newspaper who were involved with Iraq’s occupation of Kuwait on August 2, 1990 to the liberation of
Kuwait on February 28, 1991 felt that the Akshay Kumar starrer had betrayed reality.
Then in our February 15, 2016 issue we began a three-part series written by Captain Zain Juvale who was the
skipper of ‘MV Safeer,’ a merchant ship that had berthed at the Kuwaiti seaport of Shuwaikh. In those articles,
he had made a number of comments which have now been challenged by Hanif Mohammed Modak, son of the
late Captain Ibrahim Hussain Modak, Joint Owner of the vessel. The following is the second part of his challenge
round. Captain Juvale has since contacted us to offer further comments but we have suggested that he
held on until we complete the current series.
Hanif
Mohammed
Modak
In his article, Captain
Juvale had said,
“Unfortunately, although
I obtained clearance
from Iraqi authorities
within 24 hours, bureaucratic
hurdles from New
Delhi tended to derail my
rescue mission.”
This is incorrect. The owners
were in New Delhi meeting
with External Affairs
Ministry officials and were
making efforts to get their
permission for evacuation
of Indian expatriates from
Kuwait.
Household names
Captain Juvale said,
“There was a constant
stream of Indians pleading
with me to rescue them on
board my ship. I was confident
and hence took a
bold decision to ignore the
warnings of the Indian authorities,
called my ‘War
Cabinet’ for a discussion
about my plan, and proceeded
with the rescue mission
at my own risk and
responsibility.”
The Master had no authority
to proceed with a
rescue mission and could
not have done so without
the approval of ship owners
and insurers. The ship
could not have sailed out of
Kuwait without the permission
of the Iraqi authorities
and the Indian Government.
Ship conversion
Captain Juvale said, “I
managed to procure 400 life
jackets and 14 life rafts from
a dead war torn city. For all
those trying to flee Kuwait,
my small cargo ship was
like QE2.
This is incorrect.
The owners with the help
of Indian Navy have delivered
387 life jackets at
Port Shuwaikh whereas the
Master had procured only
14 life rafts locally.
Captain Juvale: I later
learnt that there were efforts
underway back home
in India, to prosecute me for
defying the instructions of
the Indian authorities.
This is also incorrect.
The Indian Government
had no reason to prosecute
the Master. The officials
were discussing all aspects
of evacuation with the owners
and finally gave the
green light to proceed with
the evacuation.
The Indian government
issued a letter to Captain
V R Kekobad thanking the
owners and the company
for safely carrying over
700 Indian nationals from
Kuwait and confirmed that
the Indian government
did not pay any amount
for transporting Indian
nationals.
A batch of Indians rescued from Kuwait in September 1990
The following is a highly edited
version of a letter sent
by Captain Nazir Al Mulla,
Second-in-Command Chief Officer of
‘MV Safeer’ to Captain Zain Juvale
on March 13, 2016:
Hearty Congratulations for ‘The
Unsung Hero Community Award.’
As you are aware, the evacuation
of 722 Indians on MV Safeer was
once again in the limelight in the
February 6, 2016 issue of ‘Midday.’
All this momentum was caught after
release of (Hindi) movie ‘Air Lift.’
Also, Oyster had called the media
and Safeer was again in the news after
25 years. However, I was out of
India during this period.
Recently I was in Oyster’s office
and to my surprise, I happened to
view the logbook of ‘Safeer’ signed
by us. I read some of your writings,
some of which are unfairly exaggerated,
exploited and not in line
with actual facts that we faced in
Iraq-occupied Kuwait. Following are
some examples:
During the first military action,
when all crew was captured by Iraqi
soldiers and forced to line up on the
wharf in surrendered position. After
this, there was no harassment. None
of the crew faced a gun six inches
from his eyes.
On no occasion during our 35
days of stay in Kuwait did the ship
run short of food. ‘Safeer’ being a
rice carrier had stores full of rejected/torn
bags sufficient for the entire
crew to survive for at least nine
months in dire situations. Later
the soldiers opened a canteen in
port Shuwaikh and poured boxes
of chicken and other stuff on the
ship. In fact, some Iraqi authorities
and some soldiers used to have their
meals from the vessel.
I must emphasise that the unprecedented
operation that led to successful
evacuation of 722 Indians
from Kuwait on a small cargo ship
was not a one-man show. It was a
joint effort by the crew of ‘Safeer.’
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