Evacuated Indian students oblivious to govt's efforts; shameful attitude displayed upon arrival [details]

India is speeding up its evacuation mission like no other country. The government, under Operation Ganga, is leaving no stone unturned to ensure safety of every last Indian stranded in Ukraine amid ongoing conflict. With evacuation flights operating everyday, the government says it has successfully brought back more than 13,000 Indians from the war-torn country. Photos and videos of Indian students arriving in India have gone viral on social media. In some videos, students are seen walking past officials and leaders who are greeting them on their safe return.

The sheer attitude portrayed by some of the evacuated students is shameful. Some political leaders are seen welcoming the students with roses or a humble namaste. But some students are just walking past them without even acknowledging their presence. This attitude has drawn severe flak on social media, after all the efforts the Indian government and its officials abroad had to put in to get them all back from a war-torn country.

Due to India's diplomatic relations with the warring nations, it has been able to get thousands of its nationals from Ukraine, where there are dangers of shelling, bombing, scarcity of essentials. Under the Operation Ganga, the Indian government has operated tens of flights on a daily basis to rescue stranded Indians from Poland, Hungary and other Ukraine-bordering countries. All this despite many countries still struggling to get their citizens out of Ukraine or get the leaders of the warring countries to provide humanitarian corridors.

Disbarring Indian govt's evacuation efforts

As shocking as the attitude of some Indian students has been, some actually spoke to media after being evacuated from Ukraine, where they not only expressed any gratitude, they even criticised and blamed the government.

"We received help only after we crossed the border into Hungary. There was no help before that. Whatever we did, we did on our own. Ten of us formed a group and boarded a train. The train was packed," one student told NDTV.

"Local people helped us. No one misbehaved with us. It's true that some students faced harassment at the Poland border. Our government is responsible for that. If it had taken action at the right time, we would not face so many problems. The US was the first to ask its citizens to leave," another student said after safely returning to India.

"Now that we are here, we are being given this. What is the point? What will we do with this? What would our families do if something happened to us there?" asked another student pointing to the roses being handed to the students upon their arrival.

Many have disregarded India's evacuation as no evacuation at all.

"I don't know whether everyone will agree with me, but tell me one thing. We are brought back on a flight from Romania, which is a safe country. So how can you call this evacuation? You should have provided us security in Ukraine. We were in a city that was so dangerous. Someone should have been with us from the embassy to guide us. Nothing was done. The students were just told that you take a bus and go," one of the students said.

Politicising criticism of evacuation

Taking potshots at the government based on the criticism of some students, many political leaders jumped at the chance to bring out a political agenda. Rahul Gandhi tweeted a video of a student criticising the government and said "Evacuation is a Duty, not a Favour."

Other Congress leaders and many users echoed similar sentiments. But there have also been those who reminded tried to remind those who were evacuated despite such a challenging situation.

The government has evacuated all stranded Indians from Pisochyn, and the focus is now on Sumy region. As attacks in Sumy region escalate, India is focusing on rescuing its nationals at the earliest. The ongoing shelling and violence, and the lack of transportation in the region are posing to be a huge challenge for evacuating over 700 students. From establishing a dialogue with both Ukraine and Russia to working with Ukraine's neighbouring countries, India's evacuation efforts are unparalleled. In fact, the MEA has said that the rescue will happen any minute for students stranded in Sumy.