Remains of Indians killed in Iraq to be flown back by next week: Swaraj
AMRITSAR:SIX days after she disclosed in Parliament that all 39 Indian workers abducted by the ISIS in Iraq’s Mosul in 2014 are dead, external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj on Monday said the mortal remains would be brought to India by next week.
Swaraj, who met kin of Punjabis killed in Iraq at Jawaharlal Nehru Bhawan in New Delhi, told them that she was discussing with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh about possible compensation and job to the kin of the deceased, said Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa who was present at the meeting. Others who accompanied the family members of the deceased included Punjab BJP president and Union minister Vijay Sampla, DSGMC chief Manjit Singh GK.
Swaraj said she would speak to chief ministers of four states to which these men belonged to for working out the possibility of providing a government job to the next of kin.
“During the meeting that lasted for nearly an hour, the minister said the bodies will be brought by a chartered plane,” said Manish Kumar, brother of Harish Kumar, one of the deceased, over phone.
Gurpinder Kaur, sister of one
SWARAJ TELLS FAMILIES THAT SHE IS DISCUSSING WITH PM THE MONETARY COMPENSATION AND POSSIBILITY OF JOBS
of the deceased Manjinder Singh of Bhoewal village in Amritsar district, said the minister has sought some time to collect data and check qualification of the family members of the victims before taking a decision on providing government jobs. “Following the minister’s assurance, we have shelved our plan to stage a dharna at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi,” she said.
Compensation and a government job to kin of the deceased were two main demands the grieving families during a meeting held at Baba Bakala in Amritsar on Friday.
Earlier in the day, the family members met Punjab Congress chief and Gurdaspur MP Sunil Jakhar in New Delhi who assured all possible assistance to them.
A group of 40 Indian workers, 27 from Punjab, were taken hostage by the ISIS when it overran Iraq’s second largest city Mosul in 2014. One Harjit Masih from Gurdaspur managed to escape and claimed to have witnessed the massacre of the others. But the government rejected it.
The Indians were first kept at a textile factory in Mosul and after Masih escaped, they were moved to a prison in Badush. Relentless search for them led to a mass grave in Badush, where deep penetration radar was used to establish the presence of bodies below a mound.
The bodies, which were exhumed with help from Iraqi authorities, had distinctive features like long hair, ‘kada’, noniraqi shoes and IDS. The bodies were sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.
The Iraqi authorities told the Indian government last week that the DNA of 38 Indians matched with the remains of bodies found.