Counting pills, fearing explosion: Indians stranded in West Asia

New Delhi: Neeru Garg and her husband count the days between medication and work. Their return flight from Sharjah disappeared. They took a taxi to Dubai and entered a city under missile attack. “We have no money left and very few basic medicines left,” Garg, chancellor of Bathinda University in Punjab state, said on Sunday at the home of an Indian doctor where they had found shelter. “We don’t know where to go.”Thousands of Indians – tourists, expats, pilgrims, politicians and families with children – across West Asia have been left in limbo after US and Israeli attacks on Iran triggered Iranian retaliation. This in turn forced massive airspace closures and shut down Dubai, the world’s busiest transportation hub. “We were asked to leave the airport without any help,” Garg said.Disruptions to air travel have exacerbated the crisis. Air India canceled around 350 flights on Sunday alone, while Air Asia canceled over 1,600 flights across its network. Airports from Chennai and Jaipur to Mangaluru and Amritsar reported heavy cancellations of flights to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Doha and Jeddah.In Karnataka, dozens of Kannadigas were stranded across Dubai after flights were grounded. These include Congress MPs NR Bharath Reddy and SR Srinivas, and JD(S) MLC SL Bhojegowda.Boyegoda, who traveled to India from Johannesburg via Dubai with his family, said the shutdown was carried out without warning. “As soon as we arrived at Dubai Airport, we received news that all flights were grounded due to Iranian air strikes,” he said in a video message, adding that they were safe but trapped.Karnataka Election Commissioner SG Sangreshi and Vice Chairman of the National Guarantee Scheme Implementation Committee Pushpa Amarnath also failed to return. Amarnath, who was attending an awards event in Dubai, said guests received multiple security alerts. “We were advised not to stand near the windows. Around 60 tourists from Karnataka were staying at my hotel. All flights were cancelled.”As the air strikes began, 50 tourists who flew to Dubai from Ballari district on February 24 were stranded as their return flight was canceled on February 28. Fifteen members of one family said they were denied entry at the airport and ran out of cash they were carrying.“A hotel room costs Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 per person per night. We cannot afford it and have nowhere to go,” said a relative. State legislators later arranged accommodation for the group at a service area near the airport.In Kolkata, film director and Trinamool MLA Raj Chakraborty, husband of actor Subhasree Ganguly, said she could hear missile explosions from inside her hotel. She is stranded in Dubai with her son. The return date is still uncertain.