Agencies
Bodies of Indians killed by ISIS in Mosul to arrive in India today: The mortal remains of 38 of the 39 Indians abducted and later killed by the Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq will reach the country by late Monday. Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh left for Mosul earlier to bring back the bodies of the deceased Indians. Singh informed that the mortal remains of only 38 Indians would be brought back to the country because one case remained pending. MoS Singh also said that the Centre would hand over the coffins of the deceased to their kin, with evidence -- so that their relatives had no doubts.
Once the mortal remains of the 38 Indians arrive, Singh will travel to Amritsar in Punjab, and Patna in Bihar, to hand them over to the respective families of the victims. Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has called on the 'Bharat Bandh' protesters to ensure that the mortal remains of the Iraq victims are allowed to be transported to their native villages without any impediment. Amritsar's Deputy Commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said that all arrangements to transport the mortal remains of the Mosul victims to their native places in Punjab and Himachal had been made. The families will reach Amritsar airport in the morning as the aircraft expected to return with the mortal remains will land around 1.30 pm.
Some relatives of the Iraq victims have said that the Government of India must provide jobs to the families of the deceased so that they can manage their survival. The families of the deceased have sought financial help as their bread earners are dead and also government jobs for the next of kin.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had on March 20 informed Rajya Sabha members of Parliament that the 39 Indian nationals who went missing in Mosul in 2014 had been killed by the terrorist outfit Islamic State. The revelation sparked a row, with the Opposition accusing the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre of being insensitive in not informing the victims' kin first. The government's treatment of the matter was also criticised by the families of the victims. The grieving families had one question to ask the Modi government: Why did you keep us in the dark for so long?
Of the 39 victims, 27 hailed from Punjab, four from Himachal Pradesh, six from Bihar, and two from West Bengal. They were construction workers employed by an Iraqi company in Mosul. The victims were taken hostage when ISIS took control of the second-largest city in Iraq. They were trying to leave Mosul when they were abducted. Their mortal remains were exhumed from a mass grave in Badush, a village northwest of Mosul in Iraq.
The names of the 39 Indians killed in Iraq by ISIS were confirmed by Swaraj. According to the External Affairs Ministry, the deceased Indians hailing from Punjab were Dharminder Kumar, Harish Kumar, Harsimranjeet Singh, Kanwaljit Singh, Malkit Singh, Ranjit Singh, Sonu, Sandeep Kumar, Manjinder Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Balwant Rai, Roop Lal, Devinder Singh, Kulwinder Singh, Jatinder Singh, Nishan Singh, Gurdeep Singh, Kamaljit Singh, Gobinder Singh, Pritpal Sharma, Sukhwinder Singh, Jasvir Singh, Parvinder Kumar, Balvir Chand, Surjeet Mainka, Nand Lal, and Rakesh Kumar. Those from Himachal Pradesh were Aman Kumar, Sandeep Singh Rana, Inderjeet, and Hem Raj. While Samar Tikadar and Khokhan Sikder hailed from West Bengal, Santosh Kumar Singh, Bidya Bhushan Tiwari, Adalat Singh, Sunil Kumar Kushwaha, Dharamendra Kumar, and Raju Kumar Yadav were from Bihar. Except for Raju Kumar Yadav, the bodies of all others have been identified through DNA samples. |
