DailyOh! Man stuck at Delhi airport since March 18, to man who stayed at a terminal for 18 years

Hey there,

Forget what they told you about change being the only constant. The new rule says uncertainty is the only certainty. Over the past few days, almost everyone who matters has said in no uncertain terms – learn to live with the virus. What this means and what cost this learning would entail is uncertain.

The lessons for us, however, include learning to never venture out without the mask, adding gloves and spectacles to our arms and ammunition. Giving our clothes and bodies a thorough wash every time we are back in the house after venturing out. And venture out only if you absolutely must.

To aid your essential venturing out, the Indian Railways would be running 15 trains from tomorrow, the bookings for which began today at 4 pm. All 15 routes are Rajdhani routes - for now. And all trains will run to full capacity unlike the Shramik trains. If you have more questions, you can find more answers here.

Indian Railways never stopped its passenger services since it started the service on April 16, 1853. Do you know the route on which the first passenger train ran? Between Bori Bunder and Thane, the Covid-19 hotspot in Mumbai (well, not back then). Maharashtra is right on top of the coronavirus trackers in India. Within Maharashtra, Thane is on the Number 3 spot with over 2,400 confirmed cases. India, meanwhile, has over 67,000 cases, more than 44,000 of which are active cases.

We are still not in Stage 3 because the government refuses to call this a community transmission. Remember, nomenclatures are for us. We can call it whatever we want, the virus doesn’t care anyway. The stage of transmission is uncertain; the transmission itself is not.

Sorry about the digression however. We were talking about people venturing out. So we told you that to venture into other states, you can now use train services. But some, as you know, are already travelling on foot. If you think this is a result of government apathy, you haven’t heard Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh yet. According to Mr Minister, it is a favour extended on humanitarian ground. Deshmukh’s illogical logic is that migrant labourers are walking in violation of the law. But the state government isn’t stopping them because, well, the state government has got a heart – a human heart, that too.

For Deshmukh’s largesse, we will allow him to walk to the throne of our Covidiot Of The Day. Only an idiot would realise that it’s not the migrants violating lockdown norms, but the Maharashtra government which is violating its constitutional obligation of protecting people’s right to life. That applies to the central government too; as it applies to many other state governments. Henry Kissinger said, "Power is an aphrodisiac." Deshmukh, we say, seems to be on an overdose of it.

But we would like to move on from Maharashtra to Delhi because in Delhi’s AIIMS, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is currently recuperating. From what? From angina; in layman’s language, chest pain.

Angina comes from the Greek word ankhonē, which means strangling. Why we are telling you this is because angina is our Word Of The Day. Angina is basically chest pain or discomfort that starts when our muscles don't get enough oxygen-rich blood. Our blood carries oxygen, which our heart muscles need to survive. When this flow is obstructed, it may feel like there is pressure or squeezing in the chest – kind of strangling.

Singh is 87. Doctors say his condition is stable. We wish him a speedy recovery and a quick return home from the hospital.

Talking of return home, let’s tell you about the man stuck away from home. A German man has been stuck in the transit area of New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport since March 18. You read that right – 54 days and counting.

Edgard Ziebat was on his way from Vietnam to Turkey on March 18. Delhi was his transit halt. You may recall that it was on March 18 that India cancelled all flights to and from Turkey in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. On March 24, India announced a national lockdown, which was subsequently extended till May 17. India hasn’t given him a Visa because Ziebat has a criminal record and is a wanted criminal in his country. Now, as per law, Germany cannot take him into custody on foreign soil. Ziebat may or may not have anticipated trouble over his anticipated crimes, but he sure did not expect this. But does Ziebat’s story remind you of something similar? It reminds us of The Terminal (2004).

Tom Hanks's The Terminal wasn’t just a movie; it was a movie based on the true story of Merhan Nasseri, who lived at Charles DeGaulle Airport in France from August 1988 to August 2006 – 18 years at that. He was taken from the terminal due to an illness.

Let us tell you how the man got stranded at the airport. Merhan was expelled from Iran in 1977 for protests against the Shah. After a long battle, he was finally awarded refugee status by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Belgium. By extension, this meant Merhan could settle in many other European countries too. Some claim Merhan was never expelled from Iran. But going by Merhan’s claim that he was indeed expelled, having one British parent, he decided to settle in the UK in 1986. Between 1986 and 1988, his papers were reportedly stolen. Despite this, he boarded the plane for London, only to be promptly returned to France when he failed to present a passport to British immigration officials.

The authorities arrested him but then realised his entry to the airport wasn’t illegal. Only they didn’t know where to release him. Merhan had no country of origin, so he couldn’t be extradited anywhere. And so he started his stay at the terminal. The Terminal starring Tom Hanks, who by the way has recovered from Covid-19, is inspired by Merhan’s story but isn’t actually his story. His story is in the book he wrote, The Terminal Man. Remember that his book presents his side of the story. There are many who claim his account isn’t entirely true. They wrote no book to document their version of the truth, but what is true is that Merhan spent about 18 years at the airport.

Criminal or no criminal, we hope Ziebat doesn’t suffer the same ordeal, and returns to his country as soon as possible. How soon it is possible remains uncertain though.

What’s certain though is that 26-year-old Ghazi Haider is the new head of Hizbul Mujahideen. Now, you know that Hizbul needed a new chief because the old chief Riyaz Naikoo died at the young age of 35. You may call that middle age but we call it ‘young’ by dying standards. But let’s not get into the age debate. Before your start the other debate, let us also tell you he didn’t die but was gunned down by India’s security forces.

So Naikoo died and then Ghazi Haider aka Saifullah Mir arrived. Haider was actually a recruit of Naikoo who was known for his recruiting ‘skills’. He turned many young boys to militancy. Haider, as we told you, was one of those ‘boys’. He is 26 so technically not a boy. But Saifullah Mir is also called Doctor Saif not because he is a doctor, but because he treated many militants injured in clashes with police and other security forces. He is a Class 12 pass out and hails from South Kashmir, the hotbed of militancy in Kashmir which is itself a hotbed of militancy in India.

Before Naikoo could convince Haider to join militancy, the man was working as a technician at Srinagar’s National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology.

Haider is said to be familiar with Naikoo’s full network and hence was chosen for the job. Do you know how the men funded their terror activities? They looted orchard owners and took cuts from the proceeds of opium cultivation in South Kashmir.

From Burhan Wani, to Riyaz Naikoo, to now Ghazi Haider – militancy continues. As does the spread of the virus. We wonder why militants don’t take a break at a time the virus is doing their job – spread terror and kill as many as possible.

We will think it over. You can think over it too.

For now, it’s a bye from us.

But before we go, let us tell you this day two years back Meghna Gulzar's Raazi released in theatres. If you have Amazon Prime and time, do watch it now, if you didn't watch it then. How's the movie? Read here.

See you tomorrow.

Also read: DailyOh! Is sex safe during Covid-19, to why Dennis Rodman is Kim Jong-un’s best buddy