No-Man’s
Land
We
were
packed
into
buses
that
snaked
through
desert
roads
and
stayed
in
refugee
camps
in
a
‘No-Man's
Land'
-
a
stretch
of
desert
between
Iraq
and
Jordan.
In
Airlift,
I
hoped
to
relate
to
such
scenes
and
say
‘Yes,
I
remember
this
incident'
or
‘This
is
what
we
went
through'.
But,
now,
after
surviving
the
movie,
I
understand
the
importance
of
the
disclaimer:
‘All
characters
appearing
in
this
work
are
fictitious.
Any
resemblance
to
real
persons,
living
or
dead,
is
purely
coincidental'.
Evacuation
Kumar
plays
Katyal,
who,
after
Iraq's
invasion
of
Kuwait
purportedly
helps
the
safe
passage
about
1.70
lakh
Indians
(plus
a
Kuwaiti
and
her
daughter)
from
Kuwait
to
Mumbai
(then
Bombay)
via
Iraq
and
Jordan.
Kumar's
character,
the
filmmakers
acknowledge,
is
inspired
by
the
lives
of
two
Indian
businessmen
(Sunny
Mathews
and
HS
Vedi)
who
played
an
instrumental
role
in
the
evacuation.
1.20
lakh
not
1.70
lakh
Director
Raja
Krishna
Menon's
depiction
of
Katyal
being
this
Moses-like
figure
leading
all
Indians
through
the
desert
in
10
buses
and
15
cars
is
just
one
of
the
many
liberties
he
has
taken
with
facts.
There
is
no
way
1.70
lakh
Indians
could
have
been
pulled
out
of
Kuwait
at
one
go.
The
evacuation
took
place
over
weeks
and
I
remember
friends
leaving
before
and
after
I
left
Kuwait.
Going
by
some
estimates
the
figure
of
1.70
lakh
Indians
is
also
exaggerated
-
reports
peg
the
number
at
around
1.20
lakh.
August
2,
1990
Iraq
invaded
Kuwait
on
August
2,
1990.
It
was
a
Thursday
and
a
school
holiday
-
we
didn't
know
it
then,
but
that
was
effectively
the
end
of
the
school
year.
We
could
no
longer
cycle
through
the
empty
parking
lots
and
souks,
nor
play
football
in
the
ground
adjacent
to
our
apartment.
We
also
stopped
going
to
the
beach
-
news
had
spread
that
Saddam's
boys
had
mined
the
beaches.
But
life
for
the
elders
in
the
family
was
as
usual:
They
drove
cars
and
went
to
work.
Thanks
to
good
India-Iraq
ties,
cars
driven
by
Indians
were
not
stopped
-
unless
it
was
a
top-end
one
with
serious
bling
on
it
that
caught
the
fancy
of
an
Iraqi
child
soldier.
There
was
a
shortage
of
food,
but
here
again,
Indians
were
allowed
to
travel
and
buy
food
from
wherever
they
could
find
it.
On
September
19
or
20
On
September
19
or
20
we
left
Kuwait
on
a
bus
to
Basrah
in
Iraq,
where
we
halted
for
a
few
hours
at
night.
From
there
we
went
to
Baghdad
where
we
changed
buses.
Our
next
halt
was
for
a
night
in
a
camp
in
the
middle
of
the
desert.
A
sandstorm
hit
the
camp
that
night,
covering
everything
in
its
path,
including
tents
and
buses,
under
layers
of
sand.
The
following
morning
we
went
to
the
‘No-Man's
Land' and
for
the
next
10
days,
tent
number
A-87
was
home.
The
United
Nations
provided
us
sheets
and
blankets
(nights
in
the
desert
can
get
very
cold).
The
UN
also
distributed
food
from
trucks
and
the
Red
Cross/Red
Crescent
set
up
medical
tents.
From
there
we
left
for
Amman
and
it
was
after
spending
a
day
in
the
queue
that
we
got
tickets
for
Mumbai.
The
trouble
with
Airlift
The
trouble
I
have
with
Airlift
is
not
so
much
that
the
evacuation
story
it
has
told
is
different
from
mine,
but
that
in
its
bending
of
facts,
it
is
recreating
an
incident
to
its
convenience.
In
other
words,
the
filmmakers
are
‘creating
history'.
In
its
dramatisation
of
events
to
suit
the
grammar
of
a
screenplay
certain
incidents
have
been
magnified
and
New
Delhi
has
been
unjustly
vilified.
Airlift
Airlift
cunningly
taps
into
the
general
resentment
towards
Indian
politicians
and
bureaucrats.
It
is
dismissive
of
New
Delhi's
efforts
to
ensure
the
safe
passage
of
Indians
from
Kuwait.
But
the
fact
remains
that
the
then
foreign
minister
IK
Gujral
met
Saddam
himself
to
negotiate
the
rescue,
even
if
he
was
broadly
panned
for
his
pains
-
a
photograph
showing
the
two
in
an
embrace
quickly
became
infamous.
historic
event
A
film
like
Airlift
is
an
example
of
what
happens
when
governments
fail
to
communicate
their
achievements
and
leave
filmmakers
to
be
the
sole
shapers
of
public
opinion
around
a
dramatic
historic
event.
@vijucherian
However,
in
a
nation
where
it
is
increasingly
becoming
necessary
to
wear
your
patriotism
on
your
sleeve,
Airlift
has
the
right
dose
of
desbhakti-inducing
scenes
and
flag
waving
to
excite
you.
It's
a
pity
about
the
details.
(The
views
expressed
are
personal.
The
writer
tweets
as
@vijucherian.
)