BAHRAIN: There is lite chance that all the 180000 Indians who left Kuwait during the Iraqi occupation would regain their jobs says Harbhajan Singh Bedi of Indian citizens committee in the liberated Gulf state.
“4000 Egyptian laborers have already arrived and there are 20000 Filipinos and Thai workers commissioned to help in the reconstruction work.”
Indian construction laborers who stayed on were putting back the telephone lines and power cable reported Dubai based English daily Gulf News quoting Singh an influential Indian architect in Kuwait.
However Singh said if the Indian government did not re-establish political ties with Kuwait economic relations might be jeopardized.
Meanwhile Indians queuing for ration cards have been told that it would take time before their requests for assistance could be processed the daily said. He said during the Iraqi occupation at least eight Indians died as they could not be taken to the hospitals due to various constrains. They died in our arms he said.
One died of a heart attack one of diarrhea and another of brain hemorrhage. We could not take them to the hospital for treatment. Most of our cars were cither taken away or did not have Iraqi number plates. If they did we did not have fuel. It was a nightmare.
Vedi said 300 Indians were rounded up by Iraqi authorities and taken to Basra Tasweerrat Fadeela Diwaniya and even Baghdad during the occupation of Kuwait.
Despite repeated requests to the Indian government and giving them detailed list not one person visited the jails not one person approached the Iraqis on our behalf he was quoted as saying.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 22, 1991
