Ullal/Karnataka: It was not a normal Sunday for the residents of Kabul on 15 August as the terrorist organization Taliban was coming to capture Rashtrapati Bhavan and so President Ashraf Ghani fled the country to make peace. The Taliban eventually took over the government but they wreaked havoc by snatching the top chair in the country. In the process common people got to see horrific scenes. One of them was Melvin, a technician who worked at a hospital in Kabul, who hailed from Ullal in Mangaluru, Karnataka.
However, after four days of distraction, Melvin finally returned to his homeland on Wednesday. Upon his arrival, Melvin described the horrors that had happened in Afghanistan.
“We were stuck in Kabul airport for two days without food. I was lucky and could board a direct flight to India as my workplace was close to the airport. There was a maniac at the airport after the flights landed during the night. There was a crowd,” he explained.
The Indians boarded various flights bound for various destinations such as London, Dubai and Norway. He said that many Indians have landed abroad and are in quarantine there.
“My brother, who also worked in Afghanistan, did not get a direct flight to India. I could talk to him twice and he informed me that he was on a flight to Qatar,” he said.
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“On August 16, I was picked up by a C-17 Globemaster flight. I reached the Jamnagar base in Gujarat. From there I went to New Delhi and reached my hometown,” he said.
Many people from Mangaluru are stuck in Afghanistan. He said that the Indian Air Force is fighting hard to bring them all back to the country and various companies are also joining hands to get their employees out of Kabul.
“The situation in Kabul is chaotic. My workplace was a safe place and I was not subjected to the terrible things that people were subjected to outside. I was there for years and did not face any such challenges. Anything Can’t say what is going to happen in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of US forces has given the Taliban a free hand.”
Melvin says, “The local Afghans who worked with us were not allowed to go to their homes because of Corona and they stayed at work. Now the problem of food is already there in the changed situation.
Meanwhile, the family members of two religious leaders stranded in Afghanistan are worried about their safety. Father Jerome Sikera from Mangaluru and Father Robert Rodriguez from Thirthahalli in Shivamogga district told their families over phone that they were at a safe place. They said they were trying to reach Kabul International Airport.
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Jerome Sequeira serves as the head of an international NGO in Kabul. He has spoken to his brother Vincent Sequeira and told him that he has moved from Kabul to a nearby safe place. His family members are coordinating with the authorities to bring him back to India.
Gerome told his family that he tried to break into Kabul airport on Sunday. But, the Taliban had captured the airport by then and there was chaos after that. The Taliban controlled the crowd and people were allowed to board the flights without any security checks.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has appointed a nodal officer to coordinate with the Center to bring back people from the state stranded in Afghanistan.
Additional DGP (CID) Umesh Kumar has been appointed as the nodal officer and a helpline (080 2209 4498) has also been announced to help the people. People have been requested to give complete information about their relatives stranded in Afghanistan.
(IANS. with inputs of)
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