M A I N   N E W S

Youths caught between hope and despair
Jupinderjit Singh/ Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service

Indians in Karbala safe Official sources have denied that intense fighting was on between Sunni rebels and government forces in Karbala and many Indians have been caught in the crossfire.

Chandigarh/Jalandhar, June 20
Hope and despair are making days longer than they expect as fighting between the militants and the Iraq army continues.

Contacted over the phone, many youths from the region told The Tribune of graphic images of the gun-wielding militants and army movement and shared their restlessness to return home.

Several Indians living in the peaceful region say they will not return without receiving their monthly wages. Some youths in Karbala and Najaf areas, employed with construction companies, say their employers have fled. Some of the employers reportedly keep a part of the wages as security and if the employees return home, they will lose that amount.

Youths in Baghdad say they are safe, but their employer - AKG Construction Company wants them to stay put. Showcasing Punjabi resilience, Inderjit Kaur of Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, said her 21-year-old son Gaurav is an electrician with AKG Company in Baghdad and he has refused to return home. "He is brave and has asked me not to worry. The company officials don't want them to leave. They are staying on the premises of the company which is heavily guarded."

The Indian government has said that Karbala and Najaf areas were safe, but telephonic conversation with the stranded persons there reveals a different picture.

Around 450 youths from Punjab are reportedly trapped in the Najaf city of Iraq as their company INTECH was allegedly demanding 350 dollars from each to return their passports. The company has hired them to construct a government hospital in the city. Najf is 450 km from Mosul.

"We are held captive here. The company officials have kept our passports. They have held back our two-month salary and are not allowing us to go out of the construction site. After the Mosul conflict, we asked them to return our passports as most of us wanted to go back to India. But they demanded $350 from each one of us," said Sandeep Lal of Jalandhar over phone from Najaf.

He said the company had withdrawn the Wi-Fi services from the site's office two days ago and now the Indians are left with no option but to get their mobile phones recharged with the help of the local Iraqi residents living near the construction site.