The 1990 airlift of Indians from Kuwait was carried out from August 13, 1990 to October 20, 1990 after the Invasion of Kuwait by Iraq which led to the commencement of the Gulf War from 2nd August,1990. During the time the Gulf War broke out, about 2,10,000 Indians were living in Kuwait. Most of these either worked in Kuwaiti companies as labourers or workers or did small scale business. Some eminent businessman such as Mathunny Mathews, Harbhajan Singh Vedi, Abey Vericad, V.K. Varrier and Ali Hussain from India were also struck in the warzone.
Mathunny Mathews
In the meantime, The Royal Family of Kuwait escaped to Saudi Arabia and the normal public suffered huge casualties and losses. Moreover, the Indian citizens were struck in the war zone. In the meantime, the Indian businessman Mathunny Mathews had convinced his group of Indian businessmen to help the Indian community living there by providing them with the food stuffs and shelter. They also met the ambassador in The Indian Embassy in Kuwait and made him aware of the situation at ground zero. They also demanded help from The Government of India by evacuating them from warzone.
The Indian Ambassador in Kuwait contacted high command in India and made him acquainted from the present scenario and also the demand of Indian citizens to evalcuate them.The Indian Government responded and a delegation was sent to meet Saddam Hussain and convince him for evacuation of Indians. He listened to the plans of Indian delegation and agreed to facilitate the repatriation of Indian citizens.
But, there were four major problems in this evacuation-
1. Many Indian workers had submitted their passports to their respective company owners who had either fled or were missing.
2. Nearly 2,00,000 Indians were needed to be evacuated and this was not possible by military aircrafts.
3. Indians who had settled there were to leave their everything and return to India.
4. It was not possible to fly civillian aircrafts in warzone as anytime any missile may strike resulting in heavy loss of life and money.
The Government of India sorted out this passport issue by issuing temporary passports to the Indian citizens using certain defined traits as Indian marks of identification and buses were used to transport Indians to Amman, Jordan as the airspace in Kuwait was not clear.
Initially, The Indian Government sent a few military air crafts to evacuate the elderly, women, children and sick people. But, soon it was realised that it was impossible to evacuate such a huge population of Indian citizens struck there by military air crafts.
Indians inside a military aircraft being airlifted from Amman
So, The Government of India turned to Air India, the official flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of India for help. Moreover, The Government of India along with some state governments such as Kerala began to supply food stuffs to the Indians struck in war zone and waiting to be evacuated from Amman,Jordan as the evacuation would last for a longer period of time. An Ilyushin-76 aircraft of The Indian Air Force was also deployed for establishing a clear communication link between New Delhi and Kuwait government officials.
Ilyushin-76 Aircraft of The Indian Air Force which was deployed
The evacuation operation by Air India and Indian Airlines started from 18th August,1990 and a hotel room in Amman was made the operating centre of this operation. Some Indians struck there were angry as they were expecting a quicker intervention by the Indian Government but the then Central minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. I.K. Gujral brought their anger under control and in no time had them shouting,'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
Inder Kumar Gujral, the then Civil Aviation Minister of India
An Air India Boeing 707 at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman
In the meanwhile, a problem had arised as an Air India crew was struck in Kuwait airport as they had flown their plane over there earlier and were now not allowed to return back as the airspace was not clear and military air crafts were flying in the Kuwaiti airspace. The Indian Foreign minister slew to Baghdad, Iraq and Kuwait and urgently arranged their repatriation. The permission to fly the Air India crew was granted by the high command. A Pakistani Airline crew which was also struck over there in similar situation was also evacuated on humanitarian grounds.
Indian Airlines was actively involved with Air India in this operation
Indian people had taken shelter in various schools and other buildings in various parts of Amman. They had to travel from various places to the Queen Alia International Airport, Amman. It could not be predicted when these people would arrive and due to this, flights got delayed a lot. The crew had to stay on duty for a much longer time than the stipulated duty hours which created a lot of tiffs.
Indians boarding an Air India plane at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman
However, they successfully completed this evacuation and this evacuation became the largest evacuation on world's history. About 1,70,000 Indians were airlifted as rest refused to return back to India as they had settled and had to leave their everything. The ones who refused took refuge in Jordan till the Gulf war got over. Air India and Indian Airlines jointly made 448 flights from Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,Mumbai,India and this mission finally ended on 20th October,1990 making it 'The Largest Airlift Operation in World's History'.Later on, Air India and Indian Airlines was awarded by 'The Guiness Book of World's Records' and The Government of India for this successful operation.
Air India and Indian Airlines got their names into into 'The Guiness Book of World's Records' with this evacuation
A Bollywood movie 'Airlift' starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur and directed by Raja Krishna Menon was made on this evacuation and it became a Box-Office hit.
A poster of the 'Airlift' movie
Mathunny Mathews
In the meantime, The Royal Family of Kuwait escaped to Saudi Arabia and the normal public suffered huge casualties and losses. Moreover, the Indian citizens were struck in the war zone. In the meantime, the Indian businessman Mathunny Mathews had convinced his group of Indian businessmen to help the Indian community living there by providing them with the food stuffs and shelter. They also met the ambassador in The Indian Embassy in Kuwait and made him aware of the situation at ground zero. They also demanded help from The Government of India by evacuating them from warzone.
The Indian Ambassador in Kuwait contacted high command in India and made him acquainted from the present scenario and also the demand of Indian citizens to evalcuate them.The Indian Government responded and a delegation was sent to meet Saddam Hussain and convince him for evacuation of Indians. He listened to the plans of Indian delegation and agreed to facilitate the repatriation of Indian citizens.
But, there were four major problems in this evacuation-
1. Many Indian workers had submitted their passports to their respective company owners who had either fled or were missing.
2. Nearly 2,00,000 Indians were needed to be evacuated and this was not possible by military aircrafts.
3. Indians who had settled there were to leave their everything and return to India.
4. It was not possible to fly civillian aircrafts in warzone as anytime any missile may strike resulting in heavy loss of life and money.
The Government of India sorted out this passport issue by issuing temporary passports to the Indian citizens using certain defined traits as Indian marks of identification and buses were used to transport Indians to Amman, Jordan as the airspace in Kuwait was not clear.
Initially, The Indian Government sent a few military air crafts to evacuate the elderly, women, children and sick people. But, soon it was realised that it was impossible to evacuate such a huge population of Indian citizens struck there by military air crafts.
Indians inside a military aircraft being airlifted from Amman
So, The Government of India turned to Air India, the official flag carrier of the Democratic Republic of India for help. Moreover, The Government of India along with some state governments such as Kerala began to supply food stuffs to the Indians struck in war zone and waiting to be evacuated from Amman,Jordan as the evacuation would last for a longer period of time. An Ilyushin-76 aircraft of The Indian Air Force was also deployed for establishing a clear communication link between New Delhi and Kuwait government officials.
Ilyushin-76 Aircraft of The Indian Air Force which was deployed
The evacuation operation by Air India and Indian Airlines started from 18th August,1990 and a hotel room in Amman was made the operating centre of this operation. Some Indians struck there were angry as they were expecting a quicker intervention by the Indian Government but the then Central minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. I.K. Gujral brought their anger under control and in no time had them shouting,'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
Inder Kumar Gujral, the then Civil Aviation Minister of India
An Air India Boeing 707 at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman
In the meanwhile, a problem had arised as an Air India crew was struck in Kuwait airport as they had flown their plane over there earlier and were now not allowed to return back as the airspace was not clear and military air crafts were flying in the Kuwaiti airspace. The Indian Foreign minister slew to Baghdad, Iraq and Kuwait and urgently arranged their repatriation. The permission to fly the Air India crew was granted by the high command. A Pakistani Airline crew which was also struck over there in similar situation was also evacuated on humanitarian grounds.
Indian Airlines was actively involved with Air India in this operation
Indian people had taken shelter in various schools and other buildings in various parts of Amman. They had to travel from various places to the Queen Alia International Airport, Amman. It could not be predicted when these people would arrive and due to this, flights got delayed a lot. The crew had to stay on duty for a much longer time than the stipulated duty hours which created a lot of tiffs.
Indians boarding an Air India plane at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman
However, they successfully completed this evacuation and this evacuation became the largest evacuation on world's history. About 1,70,000 Indians were airlifted as rest refused to return back to India as they had settled and had to leave their everything. The ones who refused took refuge in Jordan till the Gulf war got over. Air India and Indian Airlines jointly made 448 flights from Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, Jordan to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport,Mumbai,India and this mission finally ended on 20th October,1990 making it 'The Largest Airlift Operation in World's History'.Later on, Air India and Indian Airlines was awarded by 'The Guiness Book of World's Records' and The Government of India for this successful operation.
Air India and Indian Airlines got their names into into 'The Guiness Book of World's Records' with this evacuation
A Bollywood movie 'Airlift' starring Akshay Kumar and Nimrat Kaur and directed by Raja Krishna Menon was made on this evacuation and it became a Box-Office hit.
A poster of the 'Airlift' movie
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