Bhubaneswar: The first batch of 13 students from Odisha, who were safely evacuated from Israel under Operation Sindhu amid escalating tensions in West Asia, shared their experiences of being caught in the middle of a conflict after arriving in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday evening.
One evacuee, Dr. Arup Kumar Sahu, described the “scary” 48-hour journey and unforgettable “10 nights of war” while praising the coordinated efforts of the central and state governments to secure their safe return. “The first siren went off on June 13 when Israel launched Operation Rising Lion. Within 10 minutes, everything shut down. During the missile attacks, we sought safety in bunkers, which also trembled from the impact. Over time, the attacks grew more frequent, and anxiety levels surged,” said the research scholar who was in Haifa.
Preeti Shubadarshini, a Tel Aviv University student, noted that 20% of missiles fired at Israel were hitting targets, following which the university was closed. “We had to stay alert and rush to bomb shelter as sirens went off every 2 to 3 hours, which left us exhausted and sleep-deprived. The evacuation was well-organised, requiring us to cross borders through Jordan, with strong support from the Indian embassy, unlike others who had to navigate borders alone,” said Preeti, who is pursuing a PhD in plant science.
The students were all brought back in an IAD C-17 flight.
“Will finally be able to get some good sleep,” she added.
She further noted that the situation in Israel isn’t as dire as some social media portrays and urged people not to believe in AI-generated images of war-torn cities going viral on the internet.
After the successful evacuation of Indian nationals from Iran, the government had extended Operation Sindhu for Indians who ‘wish to leave’ Israel amid growing tensions. The Odisha government has been making arrangements to fly them to Bhubaneswar in subsequent flights on Tuesday night and Wednesday, official sources said.
