’I will be home in a fortnight’

Joginder Singh, who was starving and scampering for his life with 34 other Indians in Libya, called his family yesterday to say they were safe and would come home soon

'I will be home in a fortnight'

Joginder Singh, who was starving and scampering for his life with 34 other Indians in Libya, called his family yesterday to say they were safe and would come home soon

THE Singh family in Punjab heaved a sigh of relief yesterday when Joginder Singh, a mechanical engineer stranded in Libya, called them up and said he and his group were being protected by the military and would return home in a fortnight.

The last call the family had received from Joginder had made them fear for his life after he told them that he had seen 10 Indians from his group of 45 being burnt alive in a bus by protestors ('They burnt 10 Indians in front of my eyes', MiD DAY, February 23).

He had said that the remaining 35, including him, were starving and running around to save their lives.

"Our joy knew no bounds when my father called us. When we had spoken to him earlier, he told us that it was probably the last time we were talking to him.

This time, however, he said, 'All of us are safe and the military is taking care of us. We are getting proper food and accommodation and arrangements are being made to get us home in a fortnight," said Joginder's son, Karan.

Rescue

Meanwhile, Indian ships Jalashwa and Mysore sailed out to Libya on Saturday to evacuate the Indians stranded there.

INS Jalashwa, a Landing Platform Dock with amphibious capabilities, is designed for sealift missions and is also capable of undertaking humanitarian ones. INS Mysore, on the other hand, is a destroyer of the Delhi class.

The ships have been equipped with medical facilities such as an operation theatre, doctors and paramedics for the task at hand.

They are also carrying helicopters and a contingent of Marine Special Forces personnel.

The ships will evacuate the Indian nationals to either Malta or Egypt, from where they will be brought to India by air.

It may be recalled that in July, 2006, the Indian Navy had similarly evacuated over 2,500 Indians and some foreign nationals from Lebanon following the war between Israel and the Hezbollah.