Shinzo Abe uncle! Please talk to Modi ji to bring my father, others back from Japan

NEW DELHI: Priyamvada Vijayvargia, the 11-year old daughter of Kamal Vijayvargia who like hundreds of other Indians is stranded in Japan, has made a passionate appeal to the Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe.

In an email sent to Abe, she sought his intervention and requested him to talk to his counterpart, Narendra Modi.

“Respected sir please help us by talking to our PM to arrange for a plane so that my father and other people who are (stuck) in Japan can come back home,” she wrote.

Priyamvada is the eldest of four children of Shweta and Kamal Vijayvargia, residents of pink city Jaipur. Kamal had gone to Japan on a business trip on March 17 for four days but got stuck as India suspended international operations of flights on March 23 because of Coronavirus outbreak and all flights from Japan to India were canceled.

“My father has been stuck in Tokyo for the last month. We have tried so much to request Indian Govt. to help us in getting him back home but nobody has helped us. I and my 3 younger siblings are scared here in India because of the way this coronavirus is spreading everywhere,” she wrote.

Priyamvada further stated, “We don’t feel safe without our father. It’s only us and our mother at home with no other family nearby to help us.”

In a separate video message, the 11-year old girl reminded the Prime Minister Modi of his affection for his mother. She also urged the PM to run special flights to Japan to bring her father back before he gets infected with Coronavirus and dies there. She is the eldest of her sister Hannah (10), and brothers  Anant (7) and Vedant (4).

“You are Prime Minister of our country and I have seen you on twitter and TV meeting your elderly mother. If a PM needs his mother, I am just 11-year old, and I too desperately need my father. He is alive now but what if he gets infected with Coronavirus there and something happens to him. How will you bring my father back to me? Please rescue my father and send him to me,” said Priyamvada in the video. She almost broke down while recording the video.

According to Shweta, the mother of Priyamvada, she is the most caring child of all in the family.

“As the eldest one, she takes care of siblings when I am not around. She even cooks for them as and when I am tense because of Kamal. Priyamvada loves her father most amongst all the children,” said Shweta.

Kamal Vijayvargia along with other Indians stranded in Japan had gone to meet the Indian embassy officials in Tokyo on March 30 to request them to allow permission to board the chartered JAL and ANA planes which were flying between the two countries to evacuate Japanese nationals from India till April 8. About 6000 Japanese nationals were evacuated from various airports in India.

Their plea, however, remained unheeded as Embassy officials told them to stay put wherever they are in Japan.

In a separate video message, Kamal Vijayvargia hinted at another challenge of the frequent earthquakes which keep hitting Japan every now and then.

“Now I don’t know whether we will die of earthquake or coronavirus here. There is no lockdown here despite emergency and people are roaming freely on streets here, and we stand more chance of getting infected here than India. We are ready to follow the quarantine guidelines even for 1-2 months after we reach India. The healthcare infrastructure is crumbling in Japan and India fairs better on that front. Please allow us to go back to our country,” said Kamal.

Also read: Stuck in Japan, Indians remember Supermom Sushma Swaraj