KOCHI: An air strike siren going off, people rush to their balconies with mobile phones, and exploding missiles light up the night sky.
That, according to Jayasankar Mundancherry, has become the routine for the residents of Bahrain, weathering successive retaliatory air strikes from Iran ever since the US and Israel launched bombing on February 28.
“Though the situation on the ground is tense, and uncertainty looms large over how long the war will go on, life in Bahrain has not been affected much when it comes to the availability of essential items and other facilities,” Jayasankar, who caught a flight back home from Riyadh along with his daughter, told TNIE.
He points out that Bahrain has been bearing the brunt of Iran’s strikes due to the critical US military presence there, compared to other Gulf countries. Bahrain hosts the US Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain in Juffair, serving as the headquarters for the US Fifth Fleet and NAVCENT. This critical base facilitates American naval operations in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, and surrounding areas. It has been a permanent fixture in Bahrain since 1948, hosting thousands of military personnel.
Jayasankar points out that Indian nationals in the country -- numbering around four lakh -- are safe.
“Of those, Keralites constitute three lakh, and everyone is safe. However, with the war showing no sign of de-escalation, more and more people are trying to send at least their families to Kerala. It is being said that the strikes are targeted and precise. However, mistakes can happen, and then there is the threat from the falling debris of intercepted missiles,” he pointed out.
Jayasankar, who has a very close relationship with Bahrain, said, “I worked there for around 25 years before coming back in 2022, while my wife and daughter stayed back. But I could never let go of my ties to the country that had given me so much. So, I would go back on a visiting visa every six months. Now? I don’t know when I will be able to go back.”
He had to travel a long distance via road to Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, before catching a flight back home.
“I took a one-month Saudi tourist visa through a tour operator friend of mine, to be able to board the flight to Kerala,” he added, highlighting how the Saudi Arabian government was helping out by expediting the visa process.
Jayasankar and his daughter, Nandu, travelled to Dammam and then to Riyadh, covering around 500 km.
“The tour operator took good care of us, especially considering the safety of my daughter,” he said. However, one thing that has been worrying Keralites in Bahrain, Qatar and other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is the lack of outbound flights to India.
“Bahrain airport is a no-go. Just the other day, Iran bombed a huge fuel tank at the airport,” said Jayasankar, who pointed out that none of the planes was destroyed since all of them had been moved to the Dammam airport.
“The Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam has chartered Gulf Air flights to Kerala,” he said.
Explaining about the chartered flights, P V Radhakrishna Pillai, president, Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam, told TNIE over the phone that the organisation has chartered four flights.
“The first flight carrying 192 passengers flew to Kerala via Dammam on Sunday, reaching Kochi at 6 pm. Three of the passengers were in advanced stages of pregnancy,” Pillai said.
The other three flights will arrive in Kerala on March 16, 17, and 20, he said.
“We are receiving inquiries for seats. However, we are unable to cater to these requests since Gulf Air failed to get clearance for more flights from the Indian Department of Civil Aviation,” he said.
With schools shut and banks too closing down, more expats want to send their families home, to safety, he said.
“So, we request the Government of India to come up with an arrangement that will see Air India operating chartered flights to Bahrain. It is urgent,” Pillai said.