Indians caught in IS crossfire
NO CLOSURE YET More than 40 held hostage by Islamic State; families wait as govt ‘continues to make efforts’
NEW DELHI: The Islamic State is believed to be holding more than 40 Indians in hot spots such as Iraq, Libya and Yemen, which continue to attract workers and missionaries like Father Tom Uzhunnalil, grabbed by gunmen in Aden last week.
Despite the abduction of 40 men from Punjab in Iraq in 2014, construction workers and nurses from India have continued to travel to the Middle East, drawn by the lure of dollar salaries and driven by the lack of domestic opportunities.
Others, l i ke 55- year- old Uzhunnalil, are missionaries who went to care for people in countries such as Yemen where governance and healthcare has been hit by months of fighting.
Though it is almost two years since the men from Punjab were taken hostage in Iraq, their families in Amritsar, Kapurthala, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur say they have no information on their whereabouts even after several meetings with exter nal af f airs minister Sushma Swaraj.
Usha Rani, a resident of Churwali village whose husband Surjit Menka is among the abducted men, said the government “should clear the air and tell us the whereabouts of our family members”.
She added, “We are tired now with the fake assurances of the central government.”
Most of the f amilies in Punjab were disheartened by the revelations of Harjit Masih, who escaped from the terrorists in Iraq.
After being brought back to India, Masih said all 40 hostages had been killed but his claim was rejected by authorities.
In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the families of Tiruveedula Gopikrishna, Chiluveru Balaram and Ramamurthy Kosanam — all abducted in Libya last year — are anxiously awaiting information about them.
Gopikrishna and Balaram, both teachers, were held in July, while Ramamurthy, a physician, was kidnapped in September. The men were on their way home when they were taken hostage in Sirte area.
In July last year, the government said it had secured the release of two other Indians — Lakshmikant and Vijay Kumar — who were abducted in Sirte.
“I am in touch with the external affairs ministry, which says they are safe and that efforts are on to bring them back. Their word is the only hope we have,” said Muralikrishna, the brother of Gopikrishna, a 39-year-old MTech who was teaching at Hoon near Sirte since 2007.
In Ramapuram village of Kerala’s Kottayam district, the relatives of Father Uzhunnalil have been praying for him since they received news of his abduction in the Yemeni port city of Aden on Friday.
Suspected IS members killed 16 people, including an Indian nun, at a home run by the Missionaries of Charity before abducting the priest. Sister Sally, another Keralite who survived the attack, said she saw the terrorists tying the hands and legs of the priest and throwing him in a truck before speeding away.
There are at least 200 priests and nuns from Kerala, who are known for their service worldwide, working in strifetor n areas of Iraq, Yemen and Syria.