It was early in the morning at 5.00 and while awake on the bed I was building castles in the air of doing very shortly this and that without knowing that down below my Flat the Iraqis were already in Kuwait and were firing gun shots. It was a very fateful Thursday of 2nd August 1990 and previous day being a Moharram Day, I was still under the impression that the young boys were firing crackers in celebration of Moharram. Then at 6.00 AM I dressed up and gone down to collect my daily newspaper from the Bakala below my building on my way to work at Shuwaikh. The moment I alighted from the Elevator of my building on the ground floor, I saw on the road total traffic on standstill. I thought may be some top VIP is coming and for this reason the vehicular traffic on the road is halted. After a few steps before reaching the Bakala, I saw the standstill vehicles, light and heavy, without any driver or passenger, they were dragged out with gun point from their vehicles by the soldiers manning the road while the engines of the vehicles were still on. This was surprising to me and moreover, it was difficult to know the identities of the soldiers manning the road, they were carrying big Wireless Sets with long Antennas of the type World War II soldiers carried as depicted in the movie “The Longest Day”.
I was wearing full “khaki” dress which attracted the attention of one soldier on the road, he thought maybe I was a Kuwaiti Policeman and immediately he pointed his gun towards me. Suddenly at that particular moment an Arab elderly lady waiting for the Public Transport Bus interrupted the soldier asking him about the Bus not knowing like me that Iraq has already invaded Kuwait. In his conversation with that Arab lady, the soldier forgot me and taking this chance I escaped from there and returned to my Flat.
While returning to my Flat, at the entrance of my building I came across a group of people saying that Iraq has invaded Kuwait and what is seen on the road are Iraqi soldiers taken full control of Kuwait city including the main Police Station which I saw from my own eyes. I even saw from a distance how two Iraqi soldiers entering the Police Station by kicking one of the main doors. Then with sorrow all over me, I accepted the fact that Kuwait where I was earning my livelihood peacefully has been invaded by its own brotherly Arab Muslim neighbour Iraq. It was very difficult for me to accept that the brotherly country Iraq has invaded Kuwait that helped Iraq so much especially during its 8 years war with Iran. I would rather accept Israel doing what Iraq has done to Kuwait but surely not what Iraq has done to Kuwait. Impossible became possible which I had to accept and I accepted after witnessing the reality with my own eyes.
Immediately my thoughts went back to 1961 December when my Goa was annexed by Bharat with force and during that period how our innocent Goan females were raped by the Bharati Military personnel. In Bangladesh also Indian Army personnel did the same type of mischief and as a matter of fact almost all the Armies start raping the females of conquered and invaded territories. Hence, my assumption that the Iraqi Army men will also do the same type of crimes against innocent expatriate females residing in Kuwait City first. With this picture in my mind, first I went around my building and whomever I could alert, I alerted of this threat of Iraqi troops, first reaching to my Goan friends. Then I went about 800 metres away from my house where I knew a Goan family very close to me having one young school going daughter. The young school going girl was very much involved in the Church activities and known to every priest and even Bishop too. When I was telling them to flee from this place, suddenly from nowhere one craggy faced dirty Iraqi soldier knocked their door and when opened, entered inside their Flat and demanded every male inside that Flat to leave immediately. When I refused, holding the young girl in my hand and preventing him from approaching her, he pointed his gun to me with a stern warning “either leave or face death”.
Then he pulled me by my beard, caught me by my collar and pushed me out of the Flat and made me to run away which I did meekly like a coward. While I was running, the Iraqi soldier was firing shots from behind me from his gun but not a single shot was hitting me. Either they were fake shots or Angel Gabriel must have been stopping those shots hitting me. Some supernatural power was protecting me at that moment otherwise 20 years back in the morning on this date while doing good job for our people I would have been dead with the gun shots of a beastly Iraqi soldier came to invade Kuwait.
Then all trembling I came home and directly called our Catholic Church in Kuwait City where I met on the phone one known priest. I told him everything what has happened and told him to call Baghdad at our Catholic Headquarter and inform our ProNuncio to inform Saddam Hussein to instruct his soldiers in invaded Kuwait not to touch any female either local or expatriate. Unfortunately, the said priest was all trembling, afraid of his own life because our Church was surrounded by Iraqi Military Tanks. When I told him to come out from the rear door and speak to the Iraqi soldier who might be prowling on the young girl whose Flat was very close to the Church, the priest showed his inability again fearing for his life advising me instead to close the telephone and pray for the young girl’s safety. Female body is like a temple of God and as such it should not be soiled by the unauthorized dirty Iraqi soldiers. Thank God nothing has happened to our young Goan girl because on my telephonic advice from my home to her mother, they both escaped thru the rear window of their Flat and took shelter at neighbouring Flat where nobody came.
While still on discussion with the priest on telephone, suddenly I heard a big sound like that of a Bomb and then and there our telephone line got disconnected. This sound looked like coming from Church side giving me an impression that Iraqis have finally bombed our Church which served the Catholic community so well. This Catholic Church known as Holy Family Cathedral when constructed was inaugurated by the Indian Cardinal hailing from Navelim Goa and based in Bombay, Cardinal Valerian Gracias. Goan community members were the pioneers in promoting Catholicsm in Kuwait since its inception, among others. This is the Church where I got married to my beloved wife Fatima 30 years back. This is the same Church that gave solace and support and protection to so many suppressed, depressed and harassed faithfuls. To develop and support this Church early priests attached to this Church walked on foot instead of wasting money on buying luxurious vehicles. The early Priests and Bishops have done lot of sacrifices to save money to bring this Church up and in this Endeavour Goan community in particular and Konkani community in general played a very important role. Fortunately, by the grace of God nothing happened to our Church building. All my assumptions came to be false. Thank God Church was not bombed and all the priests namely Fr. Domnic Santamaria, Fr. Pinto, Bishop Frances Mechallec and others were alive. For me it was like a miracle and miracles do happen.
Raping was the worst crime Iraqi soldiers committed in Kuwait immediately following the invasion of Kuwait. Poor Filipinas within 48 hours of invasion went underground because dirty Iraqi irreligious soldiers were prowling mainly on White Skin females. These were the invading soldiers who stayed in invaded Kuwait City during the first four days and then left for Saudi border leaving Kuwait into the hands of next batch of soldiers who were not ruthless and skilful as the first batch of Republican Guards of Saddam Hussein but they were very good robbers.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
