Will Milind Deora help fellow Mumbaikar cremate 11-month old?

If you think Indian Union Commerce and Industry Minister’s Anand Sharma tough stand at the ongoing WTO summit in Bali is a sign of India’s power, think again. [caption id=“attachment_1268591” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  MoS Shipping and Mumbai MP Milind Deora. AFP[/caption] In Mumbai, a broken, tragedy-stricken family is desperately waiting for a father to return so that their 11-month child can be laid to rest. The father, 38-year old Captain Sunil James, a sailor, has been jailed in a Togo prison for months (since 20 July to be exact) under what seems to be trumped-up charges of piracy and even as his wife Aditi Sunil tried to do whatever she could to free him, comes of the tragic news of his son, 11-month old Vivaan who passed away due to septicaemia on 2 December. The toddler’s body now lies in a morgue at Mumbai’s Holy Spirit Hospital, awaiting the arrival of his father so he can be laid to rest. But the really depressing story is – the Indian government doesn’t seem to give a damn. Incidentally, India’s Minister of State of Shipping, Milind Deora is a Mumbai MP. Mid-Day has a heart wrenching story on this family’s terrible story, but what makes it worse, is the usual story of Indian government apathy. Here’s what Rakesh Madappa, Sunil’s brother-in-law told Mid-Day: “We approached the Indian government at the time whereby the Minister for External Affairs, Salman Khurshid, provided a statement on national television that his office is aware of the incident and is looking into it. Must be a very deep well, since they are still ‘looking into it’.” Thanks to the Indian government apathy, Rakesh took it upon himself and spent 25 days in Togo a country where he knew no one. He says he did this to “just to try and do what the government did not–walk the walk and not just talk.” Thanks to Rakesh securing legal services in Togo and doing what the Indian government did not do what it should do for a citizen, some of the false charges against Sunil were dropped but he still remains in prison and now it’s not even clear if he can be back home to cremate his dead child. Incidentally Togo is one of the smallest countries in Africa and has a population less than Mumbai’s. Yet, Indian diplomacy has not managed to achieve anything. But perhaps that’s because India hasn’t even tried. But perhaps that or Salman Kurshid’s seeming lack of action should not surprise us. After all, Khurshid couldn’t get Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to visit Sri Lanka for the recent Commonwealth Head of Governments Meeting (CHOGM), although he wanted the PM to attend. But while diplomacy may not matter much in the politics of electoral compulsion in Tamil Nadu, surely the much talked about Indian soft power can ensure trumped up charges against an Indian citizen who has now lost his child, are dropped. But as Rakesh said, even legal help was not provided. Will a fellow Mumbaikar’s tragedy move Mumbai MP and Minister of State for shipping, Milind Deora to wake up the Ministry of External Affairs from their slumber and come to Sunil and Aditi’s help? At least for the sake of their 11-month baby now lying in a morgue awaiting the arrival of his father so that he can be laid to rest? Or perhaps we need to remind Milind Deora too – you can reach him on @milinddeora on Twitter or email him at moscit.mmd@nic.in.