Pak airspace closure leaves 49 Indians stranded in Iraq

Mumbai: A group of 49 pilgrims from Mumbai have been stranded in Iraq since Monday due to the closure of Pakistan airspace following air strikes carried out by the Indian Air Force (IAF) in Pakistan. They have demanded that Air India, the government carrier, make immediate arrangements to enable them to reach Mumbai at the earliest.

Shoeb Shaikh, who has been stuck in Najaf, Iraq, told The Asian Age, “Our group of 49 people had come to Iraq for a pilgrimage and we were supposed to return to Mumbai by the Najaf-Delhi-Mumbai Air India flight at 6 pm on March 4. However, when we reached the Al Najaf International Airport, we were kept waiting by Air India for hours before being finally told that the flight has been cancelled.”

“The reason the Air India gave us was the closure of airspace by Pakistan following the air strikes by India. Despite knowing it well in advance, the Air India officials did not even care to inform us. This has caused us great inconvenience.”

Some of the people in the group have health problems and they have almost exhausted their medicine stock. One member of our group had to attend a court hearing as a warrant has been issued on his name, said Mr Shaikh.

Air India spokesperson Praveen Bhatnagar said that the airline carrier is making all efforts to bring back the Indians. “The problem is that not all Air India flights go to Najaf. So we are trying to adjust them in a different carrier. They will be sent in a phase-wise manner, as it is not possible to accommodate all of them in one flight,” he said.

Pakistani airspace has been closed since February 27, the day IAF carried out an air strike in Pakistan in the wake of the dreaded Pulwama attack where at least 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans lost their lives.