Hyderabad: Former External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj was known as a leader who would leave no stone unturned to help those in distress, and two such women- Zainab Bee and Ameena Begum- recalled how the BJP stalwart freed them from the clutches of slavery in the Gulf and helped them return home to their families.
Swaraj breathed her last breath on Tuesday night at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) New Delhi after suffering a cardiac arrest.
A teary-eyed Zainab said the news of Swaraj's demise devastated her and recalled how she was helped by the former EAM.
"I could not sleep the whole night when I was informed that Sushma Ji is no more. It is very upsetting for me. Because of her efforts, I was able to see my family in India," she said.
Ameena, who was rescued last year from Dammam in Saudi Arabia, said, "I requested Sushma Ji to help me come to India. She helped me a lot in 2018, a year after I went to Saudi Arabia, I was able to come to India."
Meanwhile, Amjadullah Khan, a local leader and activist who had approached Swaraj with many human trafficking cases, also condoled the loss of the BJP stalwart, who, he called, an 'Iron lady'.
Swaraj was admitted to AIIMS following the deterioration of her health, where she took her last breath on Tuesday.
The 67-year-old was appointed the Foreign Minister in the first term of the Narendra Modi government in 2014. She opted out of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections citing ill health.
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