46 nurses from Kerala to fly back in special aircraft.
By Rajiv Theodore
NEW DELHI: Thank god they were not afflicted by the Stockholm syndrome – an affliction or a group of psychological disorders where victims of trauma or kidnapping start sympathizing with their captors.
We are talking about the 46 nurses from Kerala who found themselves trapped in a hospital in war-torn Iraq’s Tikrit town under the hawkish gaze of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants. For several days, battling fear, hunger and fading hopes of seeing home, these young women were at the mercy of this militant outfit known to be far more dangerous and lethal in their thought and actions than the al-Qaeda from where they splintered.
There was a time, during the captivity, that some of the nurses felt they were treated well and in fact vowed to continue in the hospital looking after the constant stream of wounded in the ensuing violence which had torn apart most of Iraq.
“They (militants) are willing to pay us more” was th refrain by a nurse, little knowing that their very life was hanging on a thread.
There was a time when the truth suddenly dawned upon them, the enormity of the situation hitting them like a sledge-hammer especially when there seemed hardly any diplomatic negotiations taking place for their deportation back to India. There was hardly any room for negotiations because the country was engulfed in absolute mayhem and everything was in a disarray.
One nurse who was on the verge of a massive break-down even suggested that the Indian government wasted time in negotiations and now all they could do now is fly down some coffins to take their bodies, a reflection of the gravity of death hovering upon the captives.
But on Friday there was good news.
The nurses would be home in Kochi by Saturday morning. Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has confirmed that all the 46 Indian nurses held captive were freed by the ISIS militants and will reach home in a special aircraft sent by India. He informed that the nurses were on their way to the international airport in the Kurdish stronghold of Erbil where they would be received by Indian officials.
“They are an hour away from the international airport. They will reach Kochi tomorrowmorning,” the Kerala CM told reporters. He assured that the nurses were safe in the war-torn country and thanked New Delhi for its efforts in bringing back the nurses.
The nurses were working at a hospital in Tikrit when the militants ran over the town including others in northern Iraq. There were media reports that the nurses had been pressured into boarding buses and leaving the hospital by ISIS fighters.
Meanwhile, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Syed Akbaruddin, who spoke to the media said: “I can confirm to you that those Indian nurses who were moved against their will are now free. It’s been a day of dramatic developments. We started with some of you thinking we were moving towards hopelessness. Ultimately it is hope that has triumphed,” he said. “We had sent our officials from Baghdad to Erbil. They are now in contact with the Indian nurses. This process did not happen just like that. It happened because enormous amount of effort was put in both inside and outside Iraq.”
“We did not share the information with you because the process was under way. This makes us re-double our efforts for those who are still under captivity. As far as those 46 nurses are concerned they will move to Erbil tonight. There will be 70 others who will join them. The flight will first fly to Kochi, and then will fly to Delhi to drop off others,” he said.
“A senior Indian diplomat is on the plane who will co-ordinate with the Kurdish authorities and then with other authorities,” the MEA spokesperson said.