Stuck in Japan, Indians remember Supermom Sushma Swaraj

NEW DELHI/TOKYO: Stuck in Japan since India slapped restrictions on international flights, the Indian professionals remember the former foreign minister late Sushma Swaraj for her promptness in rescuing Indians on foreign land during her tenure.

Missing grossly Sushma Swaraj who was union foreign minister in Narendra Modi government’s first term (2014-19) and was known for rescuing Indians overseas and for interacting with youths on micro-blogging platform Twitter, these Indians said, “Had she been the foreign minister, we would have been flown back to our country by now.”

About 250 Indian students, executives, and technocrats in Japan and their families in India have tried all possible ways and means to make their voice heard but to no avail.

Nothing seems to have worked for these Indians. From meeting the Indian Embassy officials in Tokyo to posting their plight on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and others addressing Indian government officials, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they have tried every bit but to no positive outcome.

Kamal Vijayvargia, a businessman from Jaipur who had gone to Tokyo on a business trip on March 17 for three days and got stuck there, said that he, like many other Indians, held in Japan missed the heroic deeds of former foreign minister late Sushma Swaraj.

While talking to Asian Community News (ACN) Network from Tokyo over the phone, Vijayvargia said, “This is the time when we remember Sushma Swaraj. Had she been alive and the foreign minister, we would have been rescued and flown back to India by now. She was very prompt and good at addressing the miseries of the Indians stuck overseas.”

The Washington Post had once named her as India’s Supermom for her eagerness to help, kindness, and 24X7 presence on Twitter as well as response. She had passed away at the age of 67.

Shweta, the wife of Kamal Vijayvargia, made a passionate appeal to the Prime Minister to rescue her husband and other Indians stuck in Japan. She, like others, posted the request on Twitter, too, but it didn’t elicit any response from government authorities. She, along with her four children, wait for Kamal in Jaipur.

“My husband is forced to live in the house of a known family in Tokyo. My worry is one of the family members there is 70 years old woman who visits the hospital four times a week for dialysis treatment. She is quite prone to get infected with the coronavirus. My husband runs the risk of being infected with the virus there,” said Shweta.

Rahul Jog, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Hokkaido University, is from Ahmedabad, and his contract with the university was over on March 31 but he continues to stay there. He, like many others, is a distressed man.

Also read: Evacuation of Foreigners begins from India amidst ban on Intl flights during lockdown

“We do not have funds to sustain us for longer periods here if the ban gets extended. Since Japan is running one-way flights from Delhi to Tokyo to rescue its citizens, we wanted to use this opportunity for our safe passage from Japan. Many of the Indians here have no jobs or permanent residence, and are living with temporary arrangements from workplaces or friends or hotel booking on our expenses,” he said.

Japan Airlines and ANA have been operating flights from New Delhi airport to Tokyo since March 24, and these flights go back to India empty. Still, the Indian government, through its embassy in Tokyo, asked the Indians to stay put wherever they are.

Also read: Lockdown, the ideal time to evacuate Indians stuck abroad

“Now nine more flights are operating from Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai to fly the Japanese out on April 12-14. This is the last opportunity for the Indians stuck in japan to board these flights if the Indian government allows it,” said Shweta.

Amit Kumar Sharma, another Indian who had resigned from his company in Japan because of stress and homesickness related issues about 25 days back, is also stuck and is wanting to return to India. He also has made a passionate appeal in a video post on Twitter.

These Indian professionals said that when all countries are rescuing their citizens from India by operating special flights for them during the lockdown period amidst COVID-19 outbreak, then why can’t the Indian government do it for its citizens stuck in Japan.

Indian’s aviation regulator allowed permission to more than a dozen countries to operate special charter flights to rescue their citizens from India. Air India itself flew to many countries to evacuate foreigners. According to the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs as many as 20,475 foreigners were flown out of India till April 8.