'I Am Waiting To Hear His Voice,...See His Face': Celina Jaitly's Heart-Wrenching Post On Soldier Brother's Detention in UAE

Bollywood actor Celina Jaitly on Sunday shared a lengthy post on social media, expressing her anguish and demanding answers over the detention of her brother, Maj (Retd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, in the United Arab Emirates since September 2024.

Her heart-wrenching post began with the words: “From the Battlefield to a Cell, The Unspoken Pain of an Indian Soldier, 444 Days Without My Brother!”

Detailing the duration of his detention and the toll it has taken on her, she wrote on X: “It’s been 1 year, 2 months, 17 days, 443 days in total, 10,632 hours, 637,920 minutes… since my brother, Major Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, was taken. Since Maj Vikrant was 1st abducted, held incommunicado for eight long months, then kept in detention somewhere in the Middle East, my life has been a countdown of fear, hope & unbearable silence.”

She expressed deep fear that the authorities in the UAE may have mistreated him and expressed her desire to see and hear from him. 

“I am waiting to hear his voice, I am waiting to see his face, I dread what they have done to him. I dread it because only I know who he was when he was whole, & I dread it because I know what he managed to communicate in that one final call…A call made to the only number he could still remember. A call carrying more pain than words. A call carrying more truth than the world is ready to face,” she wrote.

She also recalled the sacrifices her brother made for the nation.

“I have more questions than answers, so much terror in every second that passes. My brother suffers from many injuries from his line of duty. He has given his youth, his strength, his mind, his life to Bharat. He has lived & bled for the flag,” she wrote in the post.

Celina further highlighted what she sees as a disturbing pattern of Indian soldiers and veterans becoming easy targets abroad.

“As Bharat rises as a global force, our soldiers & veterans are becoming easy targets abroad. This is not just personal anymore, this pattern of picking up our soldiers & veterans abroad… is this now jeopardising our own National Security instead? We must ask this question. We must demand answers. We must not turn away. We need the same, decisive action that was taken in Qatar, I am putting my faith, my life & my hope in our government ..That they will safely bring their soldier back. The same action that brought home our Naval veterans,” she said in her X post.

She appealed directly for her brother’s return saying it is something soldiers rightfully deserve for their supreme sacrifices for the nation.

“Our soldier deserves no less. No Indian soldier deserves less. Bring our soldier back. Do not let this momentum die. Do not let a man who gave everything to this nation be abandoned in silence. We must not forget our veterans, we must not let this happen to them, not now, not ever,” her post read.

Quoting her late father, Col VK Jaitly (SM), she wrote: “If you want to honour a soldier, be an Indian worth dying for."

She vowed to continue fighting: “BHAI I HAVE LOST EVERYTHING FINDING YOU. I will NOT stop, I will NOT give up till he is back to the soil of his Bharat, the country he gave up all for!!”

She tagged the Indian Army in her post.

About Major Vikrant Jaitly's Detention

Celina Jaitly’s brother, Major (Retd) Vikrant Kumar Jaitly, has been detained in the UAE since September 2024 over national security concerns.

MEA Statement on Major Jaitly’s Detention

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has confirmed that it is actively engaging with UAE authorities regarding Major Jaitly’s case.

During a media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the government is acting on directions issued by the Delhi High Court on 3 November following a plea filed by the family.

“We are in touch with the UAE authorities. Our Embassy is fully briefed on the matter. We have made consular visits to him on four occasions and remain in close contact with his family, including his wife. We are providing all possible assistance. On 3 November, the matter came up before the Delhi High Court, which gave certain directions. We are acting on those directions and extending all possible help to Major Vikrant,” Jaiswal stated.

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