'If a Pakistani activist could do it, why not our government?'

New Delhi:  It was an emotional day for the six Indian sailors of the MV Suez, who reached New Delhi today after 300 days in captivity of Somalia pirates. The crew landed at the Indira Gandhi International airport on Thursday morning to be welcome by friends and family, who praised Pakistani human rights activist Ansar Burney for facilitating their release, but blamed the Indian government for its inaction. The men were part of the 22-member crew of the Panama-flagged MV Suez cargo ship that was hijacked on 2 August last year. The crew was released last week after $2.1 million was paid in ransom. [caption id=“attachment_30802” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“There was no government representative to receive them at the airport. Screen grab from IBNLive”] [/caption] Relatives broke down in tears at the sight of the rescued sailors as their children carried placards that read “Thank you Ansar Burney uncle, we love you”. “Government did nothing to help the sailors. We had to run from pillar to post asking for help. We are indebted to Burney,” said Surinder Kaur, the mother of one of the released crew member Satnam Singh. Holding his three-year-old son, Ravinder Singh Bhulia, one of the released crew members who hails from Rohtak, said, “Indian and Pakistani media helped us a lot. As far as the Indian government’s role in the release, I don’t want to comment on it”. With tears rolling down her cheeks, his wife Champa said, “The pain would never go”. Another released crew member Prashant Chauhan said, “I am very happy. I waited for this moment for 10 months”. The crew was brought to Karachi on Wednesday by Pakistan Navy warship PNS Zulfiqar, which had picked up the sailors from the waters off Oman.The MV Suez had sank somewhere off the coast of Oman after running out of fuel. There was no government representative to receive them at the airport. NK Sharma, another released crew member, said, “Whatever Pakistan government has done is really praiseworthy. We don’t know what Indian government did or did not but Pakistan government has treated us well.” Recounting his ordeal, Sharma said they starved for many days and on some days they just got water. “We used to get boiled rice, spaghetti and potato once a week,” he said. Champa, who had staged a dharna in front of Rahul Gandhi’s house several months back demanding government intervention, said, “The Indian government said they could not do anything because they were helpless but if a Pakistani rights activist could do it, why could not they. Even the human rights organisation and NGOs did nothing”. “Pakistani is usually related to terror but the role the country played in bringing back our loved ones proves the theory wrong,” said an overwhelmed Champa. “The Ansar Burney Trust had promised the nation that it would save humanity. There were 4 Pakistanis, 6 Indians, 11 Egyptians and one Sri Lankan. If we had secured the release of only the Pakistanis, it would have been unfair to the others. So we secured the release of all hostages,” said Burney, adding the “promise we made was not political, but human.” PTI