Tamal Bhattacharya with his family at Nimta on Monday. “Everyone was waiting for him to return safely. My son is very brave as he had crossed all obstacles. We saw videos showing how people were roaming with arms… (in Afghanistan). He is back we are happy about it,” said Shyamal and Minati Bhattacharya, parents of Tamal Bhattacharya.
Bhattacharya of Nimta in North 24 Parganas district and Sarajit Mukhopadhyay of Lake View in Kolkata were among 168 people airlifted from Kabul to the Hindon Air Base in Ghaziabad by an Indian Air Force military aircraft on Sunday. The duo reached Kolkata via Delhi on Monday.
As his first attempt to reach the airport failed, Tamal recalled that he had to take shelter at a banquet hall until the Indian Airforce evacuated him and others late on Saturday night.
Bhattacharya said he had remained indoors since August 15 and tried to seek his way out with the help from the Indian embassy.
Bhattacharya had gone to Afghanistan, recently captured by the Taliban, to teach at an international school, while Mukhopadhyay refused to speak on the matter.
The teacher said when he reached the Kabul airport on Friday night, he saw hundreds of people trying to enter it. But the US military refused to allow them citing lack of documents or absence of government representatives, Bhattacharya said.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had recently asked district magistrates to share the names of people working in Afghanistan. According to a statement by the state government last week, a little over 200 people from Darjeeling, Terai and the Dooars were stranded in Kabul.
However, sources said the number of stranded people could be more.
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