The mortal remains of Naveen Shekharappa, a medical student from Karnataka who was killed in Russian shelling in Karkhiv, could perhaps have been brought back to India earlier had India not skipped two United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meetings, alleged Congress leader and leader of the opposition in Karnataka Legislative council B.K. Hariprasad, in Bengaluru on Monday.
"We all are relieved to see Naveen's mortal remains reach his native village today, 21 days after his demise. His parents and family members had been anxiously waiting for this day. Even as I praise Mr Bommai's efforts, I believe the Indian government made a big mistake by skipping two UNSC meetings. Perhaps, we could have managed to find a solution earlier had we attended the meetings," said Hariprasad, who also rubbished state Health Minister Dr K. Sudhakar's earlier remark that the Union government had performed a "historical feat" by flying home a citizen's mortal remains from a war zone.
"It is not a historical feat as there is a UN treaty that allows the countries to take back the bodies from the war zone," Hariprasad said.
Earlier, Sudhakar informed the House that the Centre had managed to fly back more than 19,000 Indian students, including 572 from Karnataka, who were stranded in Ukraine to India. Sudhakar also lauded Naveen's parents for offering to donate his body to a medical college.
"It is difficult to bring back mortal remains of even the soldiers from a war zone. But this was a historical feat, as our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai managed to bring back the mortal remains of Naveen to India," said Sudhakar.
Hariprasad, while disagreeing with the health minister, said, "Our students stranded in Ukraine had been fortunate enough to reach the neighbouring countries safely as the situation was so hostile. Even our Union ministers stayed put in countries like Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Serbia and did not go to Ukraine. The students who crossed over the Ukraine border were flown back home by the Indian embassy and the ministers," said Hariprasad, adding that the incident also warranted introspection as a large number of Indian students were seeking to go abroad in search of affordable education.
Earlier in the day, CM Bommai received Naveen's mortal remains at Bengaluru international airport, and also paid his last respects at Naveen's residence in Chalageri village in Haveri in the afternoon.
Bommai, in a telephone conversation with Modi, conveyed his gratitude for helping the aggrieved parents see the face of their son one last time. The CM also thanked the PM saying it was the "good diplomatic relations" of Modi that had helped bring back the mortal remains of Naveen from a war zone.