‘Humanity above all’: Meet the Indians who are helping students and others at Ukraine-Poland border

KEY STORY

• “During bad circumstances, which is the human inheritance, you must decide not to be reduced. You have your humanity, and you must not allow anything to reduce that. We are obliged to know we are global citizens. Disasters remind us we are world citizens, whether we like it or not.” – Maya Angelou

• Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a massive military offensive against Ukraine on February 24, three days after he began sending troops into the breakaway areas of Luhansk and Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, which he now recognises as independent states.

• Certainly, the largest ground war in Europe since World War II had begun. As a result, tensions rose in Poland, Ukraine’s western neighbour; albeit the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) ally with a 332-mile border with Ukraine had been quietly preparing for the worst. After all, the ravages of war do not just affect the involved countries, but also their neighbouring countries.

• An Indian, Ruchir Kataria, who has been living in Poland for over 12 years, told Times Now that he and his family started deliberating if it was safer to return to India once they heard the Russian invasion had commenced.

• In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, warnings about Moscow’s intentions that were formerly dismissed as “Russophobia” are now widely regarded as significant alarms.

• US President Joe Biden’s February 25 speech, during which he mentioned that his country is taking steps to defend “our NATO allies, particularly in the east”, provided him with some comfort.

• With tensions escalating, Ukrainians and foreigners studying in or working in the eastern European country began to flee towards western borders. The crisis in Ukraine had begun to spiral into a widespread humanitarian catastrophe.

• As of February 26, stories of people stranded at Ukraine-Poland borders began surfacing on social media, unnerving the international community. This was the time when Ruchir contacted the Indian embassy and, as he told me, “fortunately, my call was received”. Determined to assist his countrymen as well as others in need, Ruchir asked the embassy if he could be of assistance and shared his number with them even though none of his family or friends was stranded at the border.

• In a short period of time, he began getting calls from people stranded at border crossings and other corners of the world, whose family members were stuck in Ukraine. He also started receiving the contact information of students who were stranded.

• Ruchir started communicating with the students and others stranded in Ukraine through WhatsApp and helped them find answers from the Indian embassy about how to exit the war-torn country. Ruchir was not only a source of information but also a morale booster for those who felt stuck.

• It should be noted that Ukraine and Poland share eight border crossing points. In an advisory published on February 25, the Indian embassy had urged Indians to cross the border at Shehyni-Medyka. However, things went berserk when hundreds of Indians arrived at Shehyni-Medyka, suffering from hunger and in freezing temperatures amid a sense of uncertainty, only to be told that they would not be allowed to cross. Many had begun posting videos online to ask for help.

• In the meantime, Muhammed Shanu, another Indian living in Poland, began receiving calls from relatives and friends in Kerala. “In Kerala, many families have children studying in Ukraine. As Russia invaded Ukraine, parents began to grow anxious,” said Shanu.

• “As an Indian, I was deeply affected by the suffering of people from my community and other parts of India,” added 41-year-old Shanu, who then decided to get in touch with the Indian embassy. According to him, some staff at the Indian embassy were probably infected with COVID-19, which prevented him from meeting India’s Ambassador to Poland Nagma M Mallick. Nevertheless, he was motivated to help others.

• Meanwhile, Shibli Nomani, another Indian in Poland, decided to form a team with two other Indians. Additionally, he posted a video asking people to contact him in case their families or friends were stuck in Ukraine. The team of three people then went to the border.”We were receiving information that people were in the queue on the Ukrainian side of the border for three-four days. We carried additional power banks, so as to help those whose phones’ batteries were dead. As soon as Indians started coming, we helped them get in touch with their parents,” said Shibli.

• Additionally, he praised the efforts made by some of the Indian embassy officials who have been on the ground to help Indians coming from war-torn Ukraine.

• On the Polish side of the border, these Indian volunteers started serving as the link between students and their families, who needed their assistance, and the Indian embassy officials. They were inundated with questions from students, who were angry, confused, hungry, battling harsh weather conditions, and most important fearing for their lives.They contacted Indian embassy officials, received answers to these questions, and relayed those to the Indian students.

• While the Indian embassy was working to streamline the process, these volunteers filled their vehicles with water bottles, food packets, diapers etc, so that they could help students and families with children crossing the border and figure out where they would be housed after crossing the border. There was no official information about their housing arrangements at this time.

• In the meantime, Indian embassy officials found out that the Budomierz border crossing is particularly favourable for Indians for a relatively quick entry into Poland. In order to respond to this new knowledge, an embassy officer called Ruchir at around 6 in the evening, requesting help with organisation at the border crossing, to which he immediately responded.

• Ruchir and other volunteers of the Indian community also offered to house those coming from the Ukrainian side of the border at their houses in Warsaw, which is about 300 kilometres away from the village of Medyka, located in Przemysl County in the south-eastern part of Poland, near the Ukrainian border.

• However, the Indian embassy later made an arrangement at Hotel Prezydencki in Rzeszow, which is around 100 kilometres from the Budomierz border checkpoint. Ruchir took the first few students in his car while buses were being arranged to ferry those stuck at the border. Other Indian volunteers too ferried students from the border crossing to the hotel in their private vehicles.

• Now, the process is streamlined, and students have no difficulties crossing into Poland from Ukraine. They travel to Rzeszow on a mission bus, where they are assisted by the Indian embassy staff before they depart for India. Six buses with 52-seating capacity have been deployed at the border to transport Indians to the hotel. Presently, 15-16 Indian volunteers are working in coordination with Indian embassy officials.

• But Shibli has a request for the Indian government. “An Indian flag or point could be useful near the border. At the moment, a number of people are crossing the border, and we keep looking for Indians.” “I keep asking people – ‘Are you an Indian?’ – who resemble us. I have met many Pakistanis, Bangladeshis, Afghans.” “If we have a specific point, we can inform the people crossing the border so that they do not have to find us.”

  “I oppose war and I am willing to help in any way I can,” added Shibli. According to Shibli, not only Indians, but many Polish citizens are also arriving at the border with their cars and buses stocked up with food, water, and packets of bread. “They are doing whatever they can to help. They are also transporting people to Warsaw and to other places.”

• The selfless act being performed by these people deserves recognition. During such harsh weather, they leave the comfort of their own homes and stand for hours at the border, helping strangers. Many of them are skipping classes or missing work to help people they’ve never met, and they probably won’t in the future either.

CONCLUSION

• Several of them are offering transportation to hotels or other parts of the country, while others are offering immediate assistance, such as food, water, mobile phones so they can contact their families, etc.

• The true heroes are those who came forward on their own, set aside their own fears, and extended aid to those in need. Aren’t they?

• At the time of writing, Ruchir was returning to the border point after hearing from Indian embassy officials that a large influx of students is expected to arrive.

• When I was compiling this report, I was reminded of Mahatma Gandhi’s words – “The greatness of humanity is not in being human, but in being humane.”