New Delhi:
As Indian nationals from war-torn Ukraine return home through special flights arranged as part of Operation Ganga – India’s evacuation mission for its nationals stranded amidst a raging war – several Union Ministers were today seen welcoming them on their landing and raising slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai (Long live mother India)” and “Vande Mataram (Praise to the motherland)”. This grand welcome comes at a time when the Indian government is facing bitter criticism from opposition parties and many citizens following the killing of an Indian student by Russian shelling in Kharkiv yesterday. Videos of stranded Indian students criticising Indian embassy officials for being unresponsive and of parents and friends desperately pleading for help have flooded social media as Russia escalates its attack on the former Soviet republic.
In a video tweeted by news agency ANI, Minister Smriti Irani can be seen welcoming the students inside an IndiGo airlines aircraft. Speaking into the public address system, she says the evacuated Indians have shown “exemplary courage” in the “most challenging of times”.
“I am grateful for your resilience, for your courage and patience,” she says and leads the slogans of “Bharat Mata Ki Jai“. She also thanks the airlines crew for their service.
