Rajkot: Sudan returnees recall war horror

RAJKOT: Of the first batch of people airlifted from Sudan, 30 reached their native Rajkot in a government-arranged bus on Friday.
Happy to be back in their motherland, the people thanked God that they could return safe from the anarchy in the African country.
Vipin Mehta, who came back with his family of five said, “We had no idea how we would come out of Sudan safely. We didn’t even dare to open our doors. There was continuous bombing and firing all around our locality and fighter planes roaring in the skies. It was a hellish situation and we really didn’t know if we would survive to see this day.”
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and external affairs minister S Jaishankar, Mehta said that words fail him while expressing gratitude for being able to reach “home” safe and sound.
Mehtas were part of the group rescued under Operation Kaveri. Describing their plight in the strife-torn nation, the evacuees after alighting from the bus at Rajkot GSRTC depot said that they locked themselves in their houses and had no water or food as the locals were plundering and killing people.
Eighty-year-old Ranjanben Ambalal said, “We have reached home after a strenuous five-day journey, but have never been happier ever before.”
Another fellow traveller, Viraj Kamdar said “The situation in Sudan is the worst. Thankfully we reached home safely along with all our documents. There was no electricity, water or food there for survival.”
According to Kamdar, altogether 635 Gujaratis were standard in Sudan, of which, the first batch arrived on Thursday while others are still being airlifted.
“We have left everything whatever we had earned there and returned to India with only our lives,” said Niral Mehta, another evacuee.