Gorakhpur: A family from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur finally heaved a sigh of relief as their son was among the Indian nationals who returned from Israel under Centre's 'Operation Ajay'.
Harsh Rao had gone to Israel to study electrical engineering at an institute in Tel Aviv in 2021 and had got stranded there due to the ongoing war with Hamas. Harsh said he had been living in panic for the last few days as sounds of bombing resonated the air constantly. "It is simply scary there. We had been hiding in a bunker and it was comparatively safer. There are several more Indian students in Israel and all are very frightened. Bombs and rockets rain throughout the day and night," Harsh said.
Harsh, a resident of Shahpur police station area, is a final-year MS student in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Tel Aviv University, Israel. Harsh's mother Nisha Rao, a teacher and father Govind Rao, a scientist were horrified after watching the visuals of the war on television and had been in constant touch with their son over phone. They wrote letters to the chief minister as well as the district magistrate and other officials seeking help for their son's return. Harsh was supposed to return to India on Thursday but his flight got cancelled and next day, he landed in the country under 'Operation Ajay'.
Harsh said he had been praying to God for helping him in this situation. "All the time I was thinking about how to return home safely. I want to express my gratitude to the Government of India because had it not been for the government I would have never made it," he said adding that there was another student from Gorakhpur who was with him there but he has not been able to return till now.
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Harsh's mother said that they had been spending sleepless nights so long and are finally relieved. If the situation becomes normal, Harsh will go to Israel to complete his studies, she said.
