39 Indians killed in Iraq: Opposition asks why the government gave families false hope
Leaders from the Congress and other parties criticised the Centre for the delay in revealing the information.
Hours after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed that 39 Indians who went missing in Iraq in 2014 have been killed, the Congress and other Opposition parties asked the government why there was a delay in revealing the information.
In June 2014, Islamic State militants reportedly abducted 40 Indian labourers from a construction site near Mosul. Most of the victims were from low-income families in Punjab. One youth, identified as Harjit Masih, managed to return to India.
On Tuesday afternoon, Swaraj told the Rajya Sabha that the government had confirmed all the Indians were dead. She said their bodies had been exhumed and a DNA analysis was done.
Several Opposition leaders criticised the government for giving “false hope” to the families for years.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called it “disappointing behaviour”, while Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “The question about why the Bharatiya Janata Party government kept giving them false hopes of being alive for the past three years must be answered.”
Congress President Rahul Gandhi said he was “shocked” to hear the news.
I’m shocked to hear that 39 Indians who were in captivity since 2014, in Iraq, are now confirmed dead.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 20, 2018
My deepest condolences to the families of those who have lived in hope, that their loved ones will return unharmed. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you today.
Sad news of the confirmation of the deaths of 39 Indians in Iraq. Thoughts & prayers are w/their families. But why did the Govt give false hope to the nation for three and a half years that the people were still alive? That was disappointing behaviour.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) March 20, 2018
Shattered at the heart-wrenching news from @SushmaSwaraj that the 39 Indians missing in Iraq, most of whom were Punjabis, are dead. My heart goes out to the families who had been living in hope since their reported abduction by ISIS in 2014. Prayers with all of them.
— Capt.Amarinder Singh (@capt_amarinder) March 20, 2018
“We had expected this,” said Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh, according to the Hindustan Times. “It should have been announced earlier, it was known since much earlier.”
Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the central and state governments should help the victims’ families by giving them financial assistance and government jobs, The Times of India reported. “We are with their families in this painful and sad time,” Azad said. “It is our demand that they should be given financial assistance by central and state governments and also employment in government service.”
Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, who had visited Iraq in 2017 to find out about the missing men, responded to the Opposition’s criticism saying it was the “job of the Opposition to take things the wrong way”, News18 reported. He added that legal procedures to bring the bodies back were under way.
“There was hope, but the situation deteriorated and the chances of the men being alive seemed slim,” Singh said, according to ANI. He said the government wanted to declare the men dead only after it had concrete evidence.
#WATCH: MoS MEA VK Singh speaks on death of 39 Indians in Mosul, says, 'Everything takes time, Sushma Ji had stated she will not declare them dead until there is strong proof & she kept her promise, no one was misled. It is job of opposition to take everything in the wrong way.' pic.twitter.com/QqNzYCREhR
— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2018
