Stop complaining-Price of a war NATO-ISATION

Please stop complaining. This is a war and not a circus!

Almost a month back Palki Sharma Upadhyay Executive editor of WION reported from Kiev that war clouds were hovering over Ukraine. Russia was mobilizing its military. The Ukrainians were recruiting volunteers to beef up their fighting strength, training was being conducted, though there was no visible panic amongst Ukrainian people.

She spoke to several Indian students and business men who were aware of ensuing tensions between the two countries.  I am sure those Indians living in Ukraine for years were aware of the history between two hostile nations.

It will be downright foolish to think otherwise. She also visited border areas and visited underground bomb shelters. She reported practice air raid sirens hooting with a loud chilling shrill all over. What was this week long day of reporting in freezing cold? Poor lady must be shivering in such low temperatures.

All of us watching her daily telecast knew that situation was serious and some kind of offensive by Russia was expected. Was WION there for a paid picnic? Someone has to be crazy to think so. This was a serious matter and we sitting thousands of miles away in India watching these reports which in today’s information age go all over on multiple social media platforms almost in real time. These news channels are meant to inform us. No?

A person sitting in the remotest areas of the planet would have heard this. Hello- the relatives of Indians in Ukraine sitting in their homes in India must have seen several repots too and I am sure they can’t deny it. Most speak to their children on what’s app twice a day- that too a free video call!

Everyone is talking of a hurricane but no one takes it seriously- come on give me a break. You can create a flash mob on an issue and even a nonissue in a matter of hours on social media (umpteen example exist) and here you are seeing war clouds or at least hearing about it from serious multiple sources were sitting like an Ostrich?

When you see a rough weather and dark clouds, do you wait for the government to tell you to carry an Umbrella? Or if it is a thunderstorm not to step out for fear of lightening  or you casually walk into a park and blame the police for not stopping you if lightning strikes you – sorry you will not be alive to complain after you are struck by lightning!

An interesting relatable real story of silly misjudgment.

Hiroo Onoda  was an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and was at a Japanese holdout who did not surrender at the war’s end in August 1945. After the war ended Onoda spent 29 years hiding in the Philippines  till 1974. Not believing that war was over and Japan had surrendered on 15 Aug 1945!

Onoda continued his campaign as a Japanese officer initially living in the mountains of Lubang Island in the Philippines. The first time he saw a leaflet announcing that Japan had surrendered was in October 1945; However, he distrusted the leaflet, he had a couple of other soldiers with him in the hideout but suspected this to be an allied propaganda to capture them.

 Toward the end of 1945, leaflets were again dropped by air with a surrender order printed on them from General Tomoyuki Yamashita of the Japanese Army. To the men who had been in hiding for over six months, this leaflet was the only evidence they had that the war was over. Onoda’s group studied the leaflet and decided it was not genuine. One soldier on his own surrendered to the Philippines forces in 1950.

In 1952, letters and family pictures were dropped from an aircraft urging them to surrender, but the three soldiers concluded that this was a trick. In February 1974, Onoda met a Japanese man, Norio Suzuki, who was traveling around the world, looking for “Lieutenant Onoda” and also a giant panda in the jungles.

Onoda and Suzuki became friends, but Onoda still refused to surrender, saying that he was waiting for orders from a superior officer.  Suzuki went back to Japan and informed the Japanese government which then located Onoda’s commanding officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, who went to Onoda personally to deliver a letter. Only after this he surrendered!

Onoda in Ukraine?

Do you some similarity? Students from India were not in Ukraine representing India to fight a war. What were they waiting for? Some special message to move out? First of all stop calling them kidos or kids.

Each one of them is above 18 years age, permitted to vote, to drink, apply for admission and even a driving license. The next generation is well informed and proudly say ‘we take our own decisions’ Voila!

Do you know 2^ndLt Arun khetarpal Param Vir Chakra was killed/martyred in 1971 when he was just 21 years of age fighting Pakistani tanks? He was commanding a troop of three tanks! Yes, he was in uniform and a trained soldier and you are not but remember a shell cannot recognize a soldier or a sailor or a civilian. Bang it goes!

Then what were you waiting for bro? An invitation to move out? And from whom? You were probably working on the cost of your air tickets. Fair enough to calculate the fare.

When they were asked by the media upon arrival back home about their experience some said ‘Oh we had to walk 10 kilometers in cold and had to change four trains and jump across railway lines. We had no food, the government should have done something. OMG you expected food stalls as in Pragati Maidan in Delhi providing you hot Gajar Halwa,Rabri jalebi and parathas in Kiev? (PUN fully intended). Thank god no one complained about caramel popcorns. Bravo, you were not fighting for India bro, you were fighting to save your lives or as Americans will say you were trying to save your own A%$^.

Umpteen advisories were given and if even you get to know from students of other nations about advisory are you dumb not to act. Who told you NOT to evacuate? It had to be your call. I am sure each group of students from a nation has an Intra university whats app and E mail group. Even Inter university groups can be configured in a matter of hours.

When the shelling starts you complain there is no connectivity, we can’t reach Indian Embassy! Give us a break. That is a war zone and not a French fashion festival “défilés de mode”.

Audacity of hope!

One has been disturbed as an Indian citizen reading reports in the media, TV coverage (reporters with mikes in hand with channel logos,jumping out of turn to speak to these war heroes) and of course social media about rants of some of these returnees.

One feels sad that despite our government doing so much, many of them are so thankless. PM Modi in a week chaired almost six high level meetings. Do you even understand what it means? The PM of such a large nation is not responsible for safe passage of 20,000 students who went on their own for their benefit abroad to study. And don’t give this bull of not enough colleges in India- yes there is a problem in every sector but all engineering aspirants can’t go to IITs and out of two lac students taking CAT exam only few thousand go to IIMs and only a few Hundred to IIM A. So be it.

Even out of 20,000 only 200 complain it is a shame.

A few choicest rants I could get hold of

A student said that students were deeply disappointed by the lack of measures undertaken by the Indian government. “Apart from flights that were arranged for us, we did everything on our expenses and at our risk. The government did not provide us with any help otherwise. We crossed the border ourselves, took the trains ourselves. We could do nothing but follow the advisories.

The embassy numbers were impossible to connect with as many people must have been calling them. We had expected the government to help us but other than the advisories, there was nothing for us. Evacuation means getting us out of the war zone. We needed their help inside the city as well,” she said.

WOW! HOW?

Another verse ‘A weak government advisory, (What is strong bhai?) expensive flight prices and academic schedule were prime reasons due to which they delayed taking a flight sooner. “The government advisory which had been issued before the situation became serious read said that it was not mandatory for us to leave.

They never told us to leave strictly (what does that mean for god’s sake?). The situation between Russia and Ukraine had been delicate for several years and we did not expect it to move past the borders. At the time, booking a ticket for Rs 80,000 felt unnecessary. Had the embassy reduced costs or offered chartered flights we would have thought of leaving but soon after it became impossible for us to leave”. And now you blame your nation!

So everything was basis economy. You can buy a cell phone for INR 80,000 but can’t buy a ticket- great.

Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max (256GB) – Sierra ₹1.30 Lacs.

This one takes the cake and the baker too.

A gentleman student vehemently disagreed with the Indian government’s claim. “The Indian Embassy had earlier stated that we need to evacuate at our own risk which is not right – there has to be some assurance of our lives. Everyone doesn’t have the courage to leave without assistance. It is not the correct way to approach the evacuation process in a conflict zone.”

He probably expected an Indian Army parachute regiment air dropping in the war zone with armored vehicles to drive him down to Poland!

Boss you mess with my nation, and I will and will mess with you for sure- a pained Indian

Another one goes like this

I was supposed to fly out of Ukraine today, March 2. While I was told that I would be refunded for the first leg of my journey back, Spicejet is not refunding his ticket from Sharjah to New Delhi, he alleged.

“I wrote them an email and said that due to the crisis in Ukraine I had no choice but to cancel my ticket. I wanted them to give me at least a 50 percent refund. However, I am not getting anything back,” he said. Oh My God – thank God you are alive and you have a problem of refund- bravo.

About how a girl managed to get out of Kyiv, said that she had pleaded with the Ukrainian soldiers at the railway station to let her get on, and finally after hours they let her get onto a train that was headed to Vinnytsia. There they arranged buses for themselves, again, without any help from the Indian government or embassy. Thank god they were not haggling with the porters on the airport.

 Pleading with security guards in a war zone with two warring armies, four bordering nations involved with god knows how many mercenaries and even armed Ukrainians floating around and constant air raids and shelling. Can this be a citation for war? An Ashok Chakra at least?

Other Nations in this game of war

• The Nigerian government said that it had ‘received with surprise’ reports of the Russian invasion, and that once airports are open, it would assist people.Students from Nigeria felt that message they were largely receiving from the Government translated to the fact that they were ‘on their own’.
• Germany has said that it is not in a position to evacuate its citizens, while India’s Operation Ganga is in full swing. The government of Germany has said that the German nationals are urgently requested to leave the country. An evacuation by German authorities is currently not possible. The German Embassy in Kyiv is temporarily closed.
• On February 27, three days into the war, US explicitly stated that the US government will not be able to evacuate its citizens from Ukraine. Advisory urges US citizens in Ukraine to depart now using privately available transportation options if it is safe to do so. US has asked its citizens to even carry food and other items for two days at the Ukrainian border. No specific evacuation effort has been undertaken by the US government to bring back its nationals from Ukraine. 

Even US citizens are having long waiting times at the Ukrainian border for evacuation through other neighboring countries.

• On February 27, Chinese ambassador to Ukraine released a video message saying current conditions were too unsafe to evacuate citizens. China has issued no travel advisories and no support mechanisms, while India has released contact numbers, advisories and support mechanisms. The Chinese have postponed their evacuation plans while the Indian Operation Ganga is proceeding.
• The British Embassy office in Kyiv has temporarily relocated. Embassy staff are operating from the British Embassy office in Lviv. The in-person consular services that British Embassy office can provide are extremely limited and may be further affected by Russian military action.

 Come on grow up.

When you leave India, you leave for better opportunities which India cannot provide. And that is perfectly okay.  But then, why does the responsibility of bringing you back home on Indian tax payers’ money suddenly end-up lying on Indian shoulders if those opportunities turn into a war zone? On humanitarian grounds, definitely YES. But then why this hue and cry and drama that Indian government is not doing enough for you? Why blame the Indian government and demand quick services like Indian government is a waiter in your dad’s hotel. When you cry out for help it is help you ask and not an order for your birthday cake.

If you have to keep this kind of attitude then use the money and resources you used earlier to leave India to now come back also. Or else own the country you went to and live and die with their citizens. They are also humans – they are not creating any drama. Request help and you shall get it. Demean, blame and shame Indian government and then also forcibly demand help and be ungrateful even when help is being provided….this is utter anti-nationalism.

Don’t blame anyone- you have been plain unlucky and part of the Collateral Damage.

This is a war situation. Not as if some truck has broken down on the road or a scooter had skidded on a rainy day. Rescuing people from this can be an almost impossible task. And not only is India using its diplomacy, but also sending its sons of soil to get Indians back home, putting their lives in danger for your sake. This needs appreciation at mass level not irresponsible cribbing and complaining that government is not doing enough!!!

You have been brought back on chartered flights FREE YES FREE FOR WHICH ALL INDIANS PAID. Thank the government you are alive.

Some of you were so shameless that an official the age of your father was at the airport at 3 in the morning and you didn’t even wish him/her. What do you think you are? A war veteran will be more mannered and humble.

Shame on such people.

Look at this

A Ukrainian young mother in an interview said I had to walk miles and then 40 kilometres in a totally packed train to get my child from another city in heavy shelling. She said ‘This is war and all this will happen’. She didn’t cry or complain.

They are fighting for their nation. They are requesting and pleading for help. And they deserve it on humanitarian grounds. But you guys are demanding like the PM himself forced you to study in Ukraine.

Modi ji we don’t deserve you as our PM

No country has deployed four senior cabinet ministers to try and rescue 18.000 students ever and by no other nation.

As of 6^th March more than 70 flights have brought thousands of students back home free of cost, busses provided at borders.You have China, America, UK France Nigeria and more. They did almost nothing in comparison.

‘Aapko yeh karne ki kya zaroorat hai?’ You know how ungrateful we are and have always been. We want everything free and on our plate that too garama garam- we have done a favor by giving you our keemati vote. Pun intended

My head hangs in shame as a responsible citizen. Do forgive us.