Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member and former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj passed away due to cardiac arrest late on Tuesday, 6 August.
With many tributes pouring in, on Wednesday, people fondly remember her for all the times she came to people's rescue, irrespective of geography or nationality.
Swaraj is known to have effectively bridged the communication gap between Indian nationals and Indian Embassies abroad.
Here are seven times she was their 'knight in shining armour' in the real sense:
1. Swaraj Helped Ansari Return to India After 6 Years
Hamid Ansari was jailed in Pakistan in November 2012. The then-27-year-old Ansari had left for Kohat in Pakistan. Pakistan's intelligence agencies held him for ‘illegally’ entering the country from Afghanistan, reportedly to meet a girl he had befriended online.
Swaraj played an important role in bringing Ansari back. After his mother approached Swaraj for the first time in the case last year, she took it up with some Pakistani diplomats and asked them to look into the matter.
Swaraj also reached out to Indian High Commissioner in Pakistan, requesting 'consular access' to Ansari.
Following his release from Pakistani Jail, Ansari along with his mother, met Swaraj on 19 December 2018.
2. Helping Pakistani Students Return Home
In 2016, a team of 19 young women had come to India from Pakistan to participate in the Global Youth Peace festival in Chandigarh on 27 September. But due to the Indian Army’s surgical strikes across the Line of Control (LoC), their return on 4 October looked uncertain.
Aaliya Harir, the convenor of the peace forum 'Aghaze Dosti’ — an India-Pakistan friendship initiative – reached out to Swaraj, who assured her safe return.
To her tweet, came a heartwarming reply by Swaraj saying that there are no borders to separate daughters, they belong to all.
3. Geeta – The Girl Swaraj Played Match-Maker For
Swaraj in 2015, made an appeal through Twitter seeking public assistance in finding the family of Geeta, a deaf and mute girl who had mistakenly crossed the border over to Pakistan over 10 years ago.
Swaraj shared Geeta’s old pictures and details about her location on her Twitter handle too.
Geeta returned to India on 26 October and learned sign language at the Indore Deaf Bilingual Academy.
According to Hindustan Times, an official at Swaraj's office in 2018 said that after a meeting between Swaraj and the then Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in October 2017, she announced marriage plans for Geeta, which she refused. But Swaraj persevered:
“Geeta rejected the proposal. Swaraj ma’am then asked them to widen their search and bring more prospective grooms to choose from, assuring her total support for the cause.”Official from Swaraj’s office to Hindustan Times
4. Uzma – The Indian Woman Who Was 'Trapped' in Pak
Hailing from New Delhi, Uzma had travelled in Pakistan in 2017, and had accused Tahir Alir, whom she reportedly met in Malaysia and fell in love with, of forcing her to marry him in Pakistan on 3 May 2017.
Uzma even petitioned the Islamabad High Court on 12 May, requesting to return home, as her daughter from her first marriage in India suffered from thalassemia.
Swaraj intervened, kept the family updated and made sure that she came back home.
When she returned, Swaraj tweeted, “Welcome home, India's daughter.”
5. When Swaraj Helped a Canadian Family in Distress
Swaraj also helped a family in Canada in April this year. The issue was regarding the mortal remains of the family’s father, which was held up because Canadian rules required consent of the family to release the bodies from the hospital.
Swaraj wrote, "Mrs. Mishra was in a state of shock and was not able to give her consent."
She added, "She is now better and wants the cremation in Canada itself. Indian mission is organising the last rites as per her wishes. Her 10 year-old-son who was rescued while drowning is recovering in the hospital."
6. Bringing Stranded People Back Home
An Indian violinist, Jyotsna Srikanth was stranded and helpless in Germany in December 2018. She even lost all her documents and money. She reached out to Swaraj, and was not disappointed.
A few days later, she was able to return to Bangalore safely. Srikanth took to Twitter to show her gratitude.
7. To the Rescue of Siblings
A Twitter user Ankit Jaiswal, on 21 April, reached out to Swaraj and said that he couldn't contact his sister in Colombo. He said that he didn't know where her sister was since she left for the airport.
Swaraj promptly replied that she endorsed the information to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka.
The nine-time parliamentarian will be remembered for her legacy as an easily-accessible and extremely hardworking woman of grace.
Over the last five years, she helped many people and will perhaps be regarded as one of the most empathetic, helpful, and beloved leaders of our times.
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