To,
The Foreign Secretary,
Ministry of External Affairs,
Government of India,
New Delhi
The Foreign Secretary,
Ministry of External Affairs,
Government of India,
New Delhi
Sub- Request for White Paper on Kuwait evacuation
Dear Sir,
I, Amitabh Thakur, a UP Cadre IPS officer, present this representation in my individual capacity as a citizen of this Nation---
I, Amitabh Thakur, a UP Cadre IPS officer, present this representation in my individual capacity as a citizen of this Nation---
1.
That recently released Indian film Airlift,
directed and scripted by Sri Raja Krishna
Menon, allegedly presents the story of the biggest civil operation of
evacuation of Indians based in Kuwait during the Iraq-Kuwait war.
2.
That the film presents that after the
Kuwait attack by Iraq, the Indian Embassy gets immediately evacuated in a most
unexplainable and discernible manner. It also shows External Affairs Ministry,
the Minister and other officials being completely oblivious of the problems
being faced by the Indians in Kuwait. It shows them giving a very knew-jerk and
insipid reaction
3.
That after watching the film, the
following sets of opinion finally emerge- (a) The Indians living in Kuwait were
left completely in lurch by the Government of India (b) The Government of India
showed least interest in the matter (c) The entire External Affairs Ministry
was completely oblivious of the matter, as if it had nothing to do with it (d) The
matter was brought to notice of the Ministry only when an Indian in Kuwait
actually contacted the Ministry through a Joint Secretary (e) Even after this
intimation, the Government and its functionaries remained the most reluctant
and it was only the sheer spirit of an individual who forced a few Government
servants to undertake some of their responsibilities to finally manage this
evacuation
4.
That in short, the film shows the
Government of India, specially the External Affairs Ministry and its then
Minister and officials in an extremely poor light.
5.
That to the best of my thinking and
understanding, such a thing would possibly not have happened because 1.7 lakh
Indians would not have been left in lurch by the Government just like that, as
if even the Minister does not have basic information or concern about it. The
portrayal prima-facie seems extremely disturbing and objectionable.
6.
That in response to the film, Sri Vikas
Swarup, Spokesperson for MEW has tweeted through his official twitter handle https://twitter.com/meaindia?lang=en
on 28/01/2016-“Great
entertainment but rather short on facts :) Here's our take” along
with a 1.46 minutes Video. The Video presents three main points- (a) The ministry of external affairs
considers the protection of Indian citizens abroad as among its foremost
responsibilities, which it has done in the past and would do in the future (b) This
is a film and has also taken a lot of artistic liberties in the depictions of
the events that actually happened in Kuwait in 1990 (c) Very proactive role was
played by the ministry of external affairs in the 1990 evacuation, when Official
Indian delegation was sent to Baghdad and Kuwait and coordination was put in
place with the civil aviation ministry, Air India and a number of other
government departments.
7.
That Sri Swarup has also given link to
Indian Foreign Affairs Journal Vol. 7, No. 1, January-March, 2011, 93-107 titled “Biggest Ever Air Evacuation in
History” having interview of Sri K.P. Fabian, Head of the Gulf Division of the
Ministry of External Affairs at that time.
8.
That after this official response, Sri Menon, through his Facebook
page https://www.facebook.com/Raja-Krishna-Menon-225162107823215/
has responded on 03/02/2016 where among other things he said-“I started researching the story in 2003, and realised there
was very little documented evidence available so I started speaking to the
people involved. XXXX To research this very limitedly documented event, we
spoke to hundreds of survivors, people who were stuck in Kuwait and then
evacuated, pilots and air staff who flew the rescue missions, the businessmen
and their families who are celebrated in the film, and many others.” Hence he concluded-“The
story we have told is a fiction based on true events. Others involved may perhaps
have other narratives but our narrative is one that we arrived at from the
stories of the many we interviewed. It is from these stories that I know
without a shadow of doubt that what we have depicted in the film might well be
taking artistic liberties but is in essence the truth.”
9.
That even the film poster says-“Based on a True event”
10.
That summing it up-(a) Airlift has definitely presented the
Ministry of External Affairs response during Kuwait episode in an extremely
poor light (b) The Film states again and again that it is based on true events (c)
Even the director is quite unapologetic to say that the film in essence depicts
the truth (d) Whatever efforts have been made by the Ministry through Sri Vikas
Swarup’s tweet and/or video and the attached article do not seem to
sufficiently wash away the ill-impact on the reputation and credibility of the
Ministry’s functioning and response (e) There seems to be a definite need for
the Ministry to clear the air about the Kuwait evacuation operation and not to
leave it to the people to study the matter/history on their own as Sri Swarup
has stated in the video
11.
That in view of the above facts and considering the mass-impact of
films on public opinion, the applicant makes the following prayer
PRAYER
1.
To kindly issue a short White Paper on
the evacuation of Indians from Kuwait after Iraq attack in 1990 whereby
presenting the various efforts taken by the Government of India to get the
Operation done successfully, along with acknowledging the role of few of the
more prominent officials who made their remarkable contribution during the
process
2.
To kindly direct the Producer and
Director of Airlift to make it clear in the film in no uncertain terms that the
portrayal of the Ministry of external Affairs and its officials is not
historically correct and is nothing more than flight of imagination
Lt
No-AT/Complaint/09/16 Yours,
dated- 08/02/2016
(Amitabh
Thakur) 5/426, Viram Khand,
Gomtinagar,
Lucknow
# 94155-34526 amitabhthakurlko@gmail.com
Copy to Sri Vikas Swarup, Spokesperson,
Ministry of External Affairs, New Delhi
