Shiban Khaibri
“When we do the unthinkable,
We give others the courage that it can be done…….”
Who doubted we could do it ? Who guessed it to be just an exercise in futility ? Who waited for taking politically sadistic pleasure in the failure of the rescue operations ? All these proved just delusions and hallucinations and 17 days long hard work, patience, faith and hope coupled with a circle of less failures and more successes, finally paid dividends that would go down in the annals of the saga of how Indians, that is Bhartis , prove their mettle in adverse and horrible circumstances. The trapped labourers inside the damaged tunnel kept themselves aspiring for the best pinning all hopes on the system headed by the country’s Prime Minister whose leadership, continuous follow up and monitoring and not only providing all the necessary perquisites and wherewithal of whatever hue, coupled with the undaunted hard working and dedicated rescue teams, finally resulted in ”achieving” life at the proverbial “end of the tunnel”. Hats off to such a meticulous planning and miraculous rescuing. Agencies finally triumphed after continuously working day and night in cold and in inclement weather – facing odds , watching damages to vital machineries, braving innumerable humps and impediments, fighting and not merely getting engaged in the tug of war of hope and despair , remaining even and undeterred in advancements and moving backwards, oscillating between gains and reverses and the like .
It is said that all is well that ends well as everything has an end but the end being so stupendously unique and unprecedented , the journey all along not only proves fruitful but divinely blessed. All the 41 trapped personnel came out, escorted by National Disaster Response Force team, smiling and in cheerful mood , apparently fit and healthy – chanting ”Har Har Mahadev ” and “Bharat Mata Ki Jai”. Each one was hugged and garlanded by the Chief Minister and the Union Minister V. K. Singh amidst the immediate relatives of most of the trapped but rescued workers. The Prime Minister at once conveyed , “Your courage and patience is inspiring”. That everyone involved in this mission setting an example of humanity and teamwork was what the PM further said over the very successful culmination of the massive rescue operations. It used to be said that a particular doing was as difficult as boring a mountain but the will, the grit, the determination , the zeal and the mission with which the tunnel was pierced and holed and its most difficult barriers flattened to get our workers back unharmed to join their families proved really unprecedented . NDMA member Lt. Gen Atta Hussnain gave credit for it all to the Government of India , be it the PMO’s office, MHA, MORT&H and the like as also to the state Government in the absence of whose very active involvement such an operation probably would have not been possible to achieve its aim . More than 20 agencies got engrossed in this most difficult task for over 400 hours . Kudos to “Rat Minors” ,who were instrumental in giving the “finishing touches”.
President Droupadi Murmu expressed satisfaction and happiness over the rescue and further said that the nation salutes their resilience and remains grateful to them for building critical infrastructure for the country, even at great personal risk. However, Congress losing no opportunity to criticise Prime Minister Narendra Modi responded to such a national feat by posting his cartoon with green flag at the opening of the tunnel taking a dig in a cheap manner by ”predicting” that the PM would welcome the trapped workers with green flag and the words —“Install some cameras and then get Darshan of Sahib” There were reactions from representatives of some political parties as to why was the PM busy with election campaigning and did not visit ( meaning camp) there. They even proved to be “Tunnel Experts” as they found things having been not properly arranged before and during the making of the tunnel and airing such views at the moment when there were celebrations of 41 lives having been saved no matter at what amount of material cost .
Statement like “Camers” and “Darshan” smack of not only absolute irrelevance and hate for the PM but an attempt to accord general acceptability to the Prime Minister reaching every spot where an accident takes place. Why not , are we not hearing from many opposition parties even in cases where some crime unfortunately takes place – “Where is the Prime Minister” . This is utter bizarreness that probably deserves all contempt as such a proposition wilfully and under a design, is loaded with lowering the importance and prestige of the office of the Prime Minister. We have such a standard of political opportunism that losing the Cricket World Cup is attributed to the bad omen carrying Prime Minister hence “Panauti” . When the same team won 10 out of 10 matches but lost the final and winning and losing is what a sports match is all about , the fact to hunt for any moment of opportunity ,the PM must be humiliated and insulted is what such type of opposition parties always think. However, it may be agreed that the more hate poured on the PM , the more popular he becomes as he is unwittingly made “victim” by them. Can it be countered that when an incident of some untoward nature takes place in any NDA ruled state , how these opposition parties vie with one anther in reaching there first to make a high pitched political tourism to embarrass the state and in particular central Government. Why were all these Parties conspicuously missing at Silkyara tunnel? Was there no assessment made of any political gain at the cost of the ruling Party’s future prospects, rescuing operations notwithstanding?
It would have really set an example of its kind if opposition political parties had joined the efforts of the Government, the agencies and other concerned in rescuing operations – at least provided a moral boost to all those involved in saving the trapped workers. Should there be concern expressed as to why the colour of the jersey worn by each of the cricket players should be “Bhagwa” ? Are these the national priorities of the politicians? If the Prime Minister takes a sortie in Indian made Light Combat Aircraft Tejas – an Indian Prime minister doing it for the first time – should it be criticised or hailed as it accords importance to and allays any doubts about the operational capabilities of the aircraft so that there are more international buyers? What did a TMC leader say about such a sortie is, even not worth mentioning.
Anyway , now that all emotions associated with the success of the rescue mission are to be over in a short time , all focus should now be on investigating the causes of the mishap in the tunnel so that remedial measures are taken and in case of any negligence or otherwise , due accountability established. Protecting environment is paramount as much as building a robust and modern infrastructure is. A synergy and a combination are needed. A regard for and an assessment of both to coexist and not bypassing risks must be on the top agenda. Accidents do take place , they never give prior information but they can be averted and minimised for which proper assessment and planning are required.
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