Days after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy hurled abuses at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ‘being neutral’ amidst the conflict in the Eastern European country.
In a tweet on Tuesday (March 1), Subramanian Swamy claimed, “Now that it is clear that what Russia has done in Ukraine violates BRICS Resolution in Delhi Declaration of last year.” He asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct Russia to stop its military offensive.
“Will Modi have the guts to tell Putin to back off?” said the Parliamentarian displayed his ignorance. It must be mentioned that on February 24 (the day of invasion), PM Modi had called for an immediate cessation of violence in Ukraine during his telephonic conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Keeping geopolitical concerns and the country’s interests in mind, India abstained from voting on the United Nations Security Council resolution that criticised Russia’s action against Ukraine. Despite this, India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations TS Tirumurti made it clear that India was deeply disturbed by the turn of events in Ukraine.
“No solution can ever be arrived at at the cost of human lives. We are also deeply concerned about the welfare of the Indian community, including a large number of students, in Ukraine. The contemporary global order has been built on the UN Charter, international law and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of states,” he stated.
The career diplomat had added, “All members need to honour these principles and find a constructive way forward. Dialogue is the only answer to settling disputes. However, daunting it may appear at this moment,” TS Tirumurti told the United Nations.
Given that it is not ‘India’s war’, the government chose to stay balanced while being upfront in condemning hostilities carried out in Ukraine by Russia. Swamy, a vocal critic of the BJP government, held the belief that such a move displayed that the Modi government lacked guts.
Subramanian Swamy calls PM Modi a ‘political Hijda’
A Twitter user (@AndyKapur1) had emphasised, “No, he’s caught between a rock and a hard place, the best is to play neutral which he is doing.” Miffed by the response, Swamy resorted to using derogatory language against the transgender community.
In a bid to label the “Indian government’ as ‘incompetent’, Swamy dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a ‘political Hijda.’ Swamy claimed, “A Prime Minister of 1.4 billion cultured people cannot be a political hijda.”
Operation Ganga to the rescue
While Subramanian Swamy has been busy in mud slinging, the Indian government, under ‘Operation Ganga’, has moved a massive amount of personnel and resources to repatriate every stranded Indian from Ukraine.
The Ukrainian airspace was closed for civilian aircraft from Thursday (February 24) morning onwards. As such, the Indian embassy in Ukraine had to coordinate with the embassies of neighbouring countries in Poland, Romania and Hungary for the creation of safe evacuation channels.
Under ‘Operation Ganga’, Indians are first taken in batches from Ukraine to bordering countries (currently Hungary and Romania) via buses/commute arranged by the embassy. They are then airlifted to Delhi or Mumbai through chartered Air India flights.
On Saturday (February 26) evening, the first Air India flight carrying 219 Indian nationals reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai from Bucharest in Romania.
We will not rest till our fellow Indians are safe.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 28, 2022
Ninth #OperationGanga flight departs Bucharest for New Delhi with 218 Indian nationals. https://t.co/uQzlBMlxi9
As of Tuesday (March 1), a total of 2012 Indians were evacuated via 9 chartered Air India flights under Operation Ganga. It must be mentioned that prior to the closure of the Ukrainian airspace, Air India had evacuated 240 people from Boryspil International Airport in Kyiv on Tuesday (February 22). This puts the total number of Indian evacuees at 2252.
