Sushma Swaraj: Madame Foreign Minister who took MEA out of Raisina Hills to common man

Sushma Swaraj, a politician who was respected across party lines, was aptly called the crusading “Supermom” of India by the Washington Post for solving the problems of distressed Indians around the world.

She was an easily-accessible external affairs minister who helped the distressed Indians around the world by her revolutionary social media outreach. Her interventions on social media and digital diplomacy were much talked about.

As soon as Swaraj announced her decision to vacate the official residence, Twitter praised the former Union minister, calling that she's a "stateswoman extraordinaire" who has "set an example for the other politicians to follow".

Here are few incidents when Sushma Swaraj came to the rescue of the people and proved she is the kind of neta India needs:

-Operation Rahat

Launched by Indian armed forces, Operation Rahat was to evacuate more than 4,000 Indian citizens and other foreign nationals from Yemen during the 2015 military intervention by Saudi Arabia and its allies.

-She rescued 168 Indians trapped in Iraq by acting on a video that was tweeted to her.

In February 2015, she shot to international Twitter fame after she helped out 168 Indians trapped in Basra, Iran. She had been acting on the basis of a video shared with her on social media. In the same year, she helped out an Indian national who had lost her wallet passport and money in Berlin, Germany.

-She helped a Indian who lost his passport in the USA days before his wedding.

-Pranshu Singhal’s plea to rescue his brother from Doha airport didn’t go unheard.

-She helped a Indian citizen who lost her passport and money in Berlin.

-When a woman from Yemen (married to an Indian), tweeted a photo of her 8-month-old baby and asked to be evacuated safely.

-She also came to the rescue of Dev Tamboli’s sister from the clutches of trafficking from UAE.

-When Suzanne Lugano’s sister (of Dutch origin) went missing in Rishikesh.

-She also appealed to the citizens of the country to help Geeta in finding out her parents.

Geeta returned from Pakistan and can neither speak nor hear. "I announce that whoever helps us in finding Geeta's parents will be given Rs 1 lakh as a reward," said Swaraj.

-23 July 2016 - Judith D'Souza came home after her release from captivity in Afghanistan.

-When Captain Nikhil Mahajan, brother of the late Captain Tushar Mahajan could pay his last respects to his brother and reach India safely from Washington.

-She even helped people from outside the country, including Pakistan who sought medical assistance in India.

-In 2017, Swaraj impressed fan and critics when she decided to grant a year-long medical visa to a Pakistani girl Shireen Shiraz for an open heart surgery. She helped out two more Pakistani nationals the same year by granting them medical visas for carrying out liver surgeries in India.