It is not at all easy to bring out the common people trapped in a war-torn area. One way is for people to flee and move to nearby safe places, from where they can find a way to escape. For us Indians, the 1991 Gulf War is a great example of this, in which more than one lakh Indians stranded in Kuwait were brought back by plane. However, diplomacy also played an important role in this, as the ruler of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, had good relations with India. More or less the same happened in the Yemen war, which was undoubtedly a civil war. But a big difference between then and today’s situation is that the war had not started at that time. India had evacuated its citizens even before the start of the war.
Clearly, the diplomatic intricacies today abound. Recently, when Ukraine was attacked, many Indians were trapped in those areas which were the direct target of Russia. The better solution in this was that the advisory of the Government of India would have been taken seriously. But in this three difficulties arose before the Indians, especially the students. First, the people of Ukraine, even the government there, did not anticipate that they would be attacked. Second, universities warned students that if they left their studies unfinished and returned to India, their entire semester could be wasted and it was possible that their admission could be rejected. And the third problem was the high cost of air tickets.
However, despite ‘Operation Ganga’, many students are still stuck in the war-torn areas. Worryingly, we don’t have too many options now. In the midst of a war it is futile to expect that a convoy will go under bombing to protect them and bring them out safely. After all, who will take the risk of going to war-torn areas? In many areas of Ukraine, the situation is that tanks are running on the streets and there are continuous airstrikes, in which there is loss of life and property. However, efforts are also being made to find a way out diplomatically. Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself and embassy officials are ready for this.
Efforts are being made in talks with Russia and Ukraine to find such a way or fix a time when there is a ceasefire and a safe way for the return of Indian students can be prepared. Consent has also been received from both the countries on this matter. But in the last two-three days it is also being seen that as soon as such a convoy of Indians is ready to leave, the shelling starts and the sirens start sounding. As a result, the students have to go back to the bunker.
At the moment it cannot be said exactly what is the reason for this? But it is feared that the ceasefire order may not have reached the commandant level officers of the army. There is also a apprehension that there is some well-planned conspiracy happening at the local level against the Indians. The fact is also that no side in a war wants the opposition to get any advantage. There is a fear in them that under the guise of a ceasefire, the enemy army may strengthen its position. Ukraine is still grappling with these complexities.
Is there any solution for this? Maybe not in the middle of a war. But if one side dominates the conflict-ridden area, then a middle way can be found by negotiating with it. The problem is also that many Indian students are stuck near the Russian border. If they want to get out of there, then they will have to travel two-and-a-half thousand kilometers from eastern Ukraine to reach the western part of the country and cross the border of another country. But this is not an easy task in the middle of the war.
In such a situation, an option could be to get these students across the border of Russia and from there to India. Russia agrees to this, but Ukraine has objections. The third option is to bring Indian students through Russia’s neighboring country Belarus. When children can leave from Hungary, Poland and Romania bordering the western border, they can also be sent to Belarus. But not much work is being done on this option, because it is believed that the next major attack on Kyiv (the capital of Ukraine) could be from Belarus. The tension between the two countries is high.
Obviously, the situation is very worrying and the road to solution is very difficult. The problem is also that under the Geneva Convention, ordinary citizens have got many types of statutory rights in a war-torn environment, in which there are provisions like war crimes when they are targeted, but in the environment of war such provisions are easily forgotten. . Sometimes action is taken from civilian areas to dominate the enemy army and guerilla wars are fought under the guise of common people, as a result of which the enemy army also targets civilian areas.
It has to be understood that there is no war in which common people are not targeted. Regrettably, attacks on civilians are dismissed as human error. Again, allegations of human rights violations against powerful countries, which have economic, military and diplomatic clout, and especially those with veto power in the Security Council, are not proven. Clearly, in any war the truth is killed first and then humanity. No country or institution has any cure for this.
(These are the author’s own views)