‘Sushma Swaraj heard us when there was no hope’: Condolences pour in from Pakistan

Read | President, PM lead farewell to ‘people’s minister’

Rohaan was born with a congenital heart defect on July 29, 2017. Doctors in Pakistan gave him a month to live and recommended immediate open heart surgery. The family got documents prepared to come to India but visas were not issued. Finally, Rohaan’s mother Mehwish Mukhtar (33) from Lahore started an online campaign ‘Help Baby Rohaan’ and tweeted to Swaraj, seeking her help.

“My child was given just a month to live. He needed immediate surgery. Sushma Swaraj responded to our plea on Twitter and got visas issued immediately. My baby’s first surgery was done in India on September 8, 2017. It was successful. She heard us when there was no hope. We respect her for what she did for my son and all children from Pakistan,” Mukhtar told The Indian Express. Rohaan, now two, underwent his second surgery in India in July. He may require a third surgery but he is currently stable.

In September 2016, when tensions soared between India and Pakistan following the Uri attack and the subsequent surgical strikes, a 19-member women delegation from Pakistan was in India to attend the Global Youth Peace Festival in Chandigarh.

Aliya Harir (27), a peace activist from Pakistan who was on the delegation, recalled: “We were worried if we would be able to return safely. Sushma ma’am called me and said, ‘India mein mehmaan bhagwan hota hai…’ A minister spoke to me over like a mother worried for her daughter. She asked organisers to take care of our security and ensured our safe return,” Harir told The Indian Express.

The mortal remains of former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj being taken to Lodhi crematorium for her last rites (Express Photo By Amit Mehra)

After reaching Pakistan, when Harir tweeted a message to thank Swaraj, she responded, “Aliya, I was concerned about your well-being kyonki betiyan to sabki sanjhi hoti hain…”

“I am feeling uneasy since last night because it is a personal loss,” added Harir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi pays his last respects to former external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj at her residence in New Delhi (PTI Photo/Vijay Verma)

Swaraj also came to the aid of Ramish Aman (28) from Nainital of Uttarakhand and his wife Sidra Rafique (32), from Mansehra district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.

“We married on November 23, 2017 at Rawalpindi, but it wouldn’t have been possible if Sushma ma’am hadn’t responded to my wife’s request on Twitter to grant her permanent visa for stay in India. Sidra’s visa had been rejected twice and my in-laws had said that if it is rejected for the third time, there will be no marriage as she won’t be able to shift to India. It is because of her that we are together,” said Aman.

Sidra said she was overwhelmed by Swaraj responding to her request on Twitter. “She wrote to me..’Sidra- Hindustan apni betiyon aur bahuon ka visa inkaar nahi karta. Tumhe visa zaroor milega…my mother whom I never met is gone,” she said.

Swaraj’s intervention helped Maria (11) and Shayaan (9) — both suffering from thalassemia major — get visa approvals for bone marrow transplant at a Gurgaon hospital. Maria’s father Mohammad Danish said, “We had applied for medical visa, but it wasn’t getting approved. Time was running out and my daughter (then 9) needed immediate bone marrow transplant. I am thankful to Swaraj ma’am that she responded to my tweet immediately.”

In her own words, Sushma Swaraj summed up her ‘Humanity First’ policy when she issued quick visas to Pakistanis on humanitarian grounds. She once tweeted: ‘Dushmani jam kar karo par itni gunjayish rahe, phir kabhi hum dost ban jayein to sharminda na hon… (Don’t practise enmity to such an extent that one day if we become friends again, there is guilt inside)..’