The real life ‘air-lift’ Goan hero in Kuwait

MARGAO: The movie Airlift has generated a lot of buzz across India. But the story of a Goan in Kuwait, who played a massive role in the events that unfolded during the invasion in the 90’s, has been creating a buzz in Goa and among the Goan Diaspora worldwide.

Published on:

25 Feb 2016, 1:20 am

Speaking about the 1990 invasion of Kuwait by Iraq, Carmo recalls that there were at least 10,000 Indians left behind until the Gulf state was liberated on February 26, 1991.

Carmo’s gallant efforts have recently made it to the news as several national publications have written about him in view of the criticism the movie received for its inaccurate portrayal of what had happened.

“The whole evacuation of stranded Indians was arranged free of charge by our Indian Government under the leadership of late Chandra Shekkar, then Prime Minister of India. All the credit goes to our Indian Government, Air India, Indian Air Force, Indian Embassy in Baghdad, Indian Embassy in Kuwait who used to shelter Indians inside Indian School, Salmiya, Kuwait instead of Indian Embassy premises. It was a history created by Air India to ‘Air Lift’ majority of the Indians,” added Carmo.

Carmo, who lives in Kuwait is originally from Merces, Ilhas and was brought up in Panjim before he moved to Margao. The son of Luiza Berthalina Fernandes e Santos from Carmona and the late Armando Viegas Dos Santos