‘Why did govt lie to us?’
IN A MOUND OF DESPAIR Ran from pillar to post to know whereabouts of kin over 4 years, families now feel govt deceived them, did not make efforts to rescue 39 Indian men abducted and killed by IS
Alternating between hope and despair for the last four years, families of the 39 Indians accused the central government of keeping them in dark.
AMRITSAR/JALANDHAR: As a pall of gloom descended on villages here to which the men killed in Iraq belonged, their families expressed anger over the “lack of efforts” made by the Union government to rescue them.
“Families ran from pillar to post to know the whereabouts of their sons in the last four years, and now our fate is like that of families of the 1984 anti-Sikh violence victims, deprived of justice,” said Gurpinder Kaur, sister of one of the victims, Manjinder Singh, of Bhoewal village, 30 km from Amritsar.
Besides the repeated assertions of the Indian government that the men were alive, what gave them further hope was the recapture of the city of Mosul by the Iraqi forces from the terror group Islamic State.
In October last, DNA samples of the families were taken on directions of the Union government as sought by the Iraqi authorities, and that brought about grave uncertainty. “And the attitude of the government now has proved that it was not sincere in its rescue efforts,” said Gurpinder, who led the families’ struggle, about Sushma’s sharing the news of their death in Parliament without first informing the families.
“It’s unfair that the government did not even tell us about what happened to our kin. We came to know through media reports. We kept on calling the personal secretary of Sushma Swaraj, but he did not pick up the phone,” she added.
She had lodged an FIR against the travel agent who sent her brother to Iraq “as he was responsible for what happened to him”. “After getting bail from the high court, he is enjoying his freedom,” she rued, “Nothing can be done in this country, whatever the efforts you make.”
Sardara Singh, father of another victim, Gurcharan Singh, of Jalal Usma village, said, “The government rescued around 50 nurses from the clutches of IS, but did not take any initiative for saving our sons. It played politics with sentiments of the families.”
“If the government had taken adequate steps soon after hearing the news of the 39 Indians having been taken captive by IS, their lives could have been saved,” said Sarwan Singh, elder brother of Nishan Singh of Sangoana village. Victim Ranjit Singh’s elder sister Jasbir Kaur of Manawala village in Ajnala tehsil said, “The government kept making a fools of us. We suspect now it was merely pretending all along, even at the time of taking DNA samples.” Swaraj has said that the DNA matching helped identify the bodies of the men.
Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Kamaldeep Singh said the administration has now got formal intimation from the state government by email, and all DCs concerned have been asked to be ready to receive the bodies, though it wasn’t known when the bodies would arrive.
‘WOULD HAVE NEVER LET HIM GO TO IRAQ’
The family members of Gobinder Singh of Murar village in Kapurthala were distraught when they first heard of the news.
The sole breadwinner of the family, Gobinder went to work in a construction company in Iraq in 2013 to shore up his domestic finances after taking a loan of ₹1.5 lakh. “I would have never let him go to Iraq had I known that he will never come back,” said his inconsolable widow Amarjeet Kaur.
The last four years have been harsh on the family. Amarjeet says her elder son Amandeep Singh (19) had to drop out after Plus Two and start working in a factory. She herself has taken to working as a household help to make ends meet. Her younger daughter Karandeep (17) is studying in a government school.
Davinder Singh, brother of the deceased, said it seems the government was lying all along. “Or may be they failed to take the required steps at the right time.” Harjit Masih, who managed to escape after feigning death, had said the 39 men had been killed.