Capt seeks Swaraj’s help for last rites, ex gratia to families

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 20

Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Tuesday asked External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to provide help to the families of Indian hostages killed in Iraq in performing last rites, besides ex gratia relief.

The CM, who wrote to Sushma on the issue, also called her up.

Sushma assured Capt Amarinder that the Indian Government was making arrangements to bring the last remains in coffins with due respect to the deceased. The Chief Minister told her that his government would make arrangements for the coffins to be delivered to the families of the victims for the final rites.

The CM said he had already directed state government officials to visit the bereaved families.

In his letter to the Union Minister, Capt Amarinder pointed out that most of the deceased hailed from Punjab. While the state government had been providing a monthly assistance of Rs 20,000 to the victims’ families, he said, he would be grateful if the Centre could also give them due assistance, given the special circumstances surrounding the matter.

Expressing grief at the news, the Chief Minister said it had come as a shock to the families and to everyone else in Punjab as they had been hoping and praying for the well-being of the hostages, who had been abducted by the ISIS in 2014.

Capt Amarinder earlier told mediapersons outside the Vidhan Sabha that the deaths of the 39 hostages should have been confirmed by the Central government immediately after the lone survivor revealed that the remaining hostages were killed. The families had been living under uncertainty all these years, which naturally aggravated their miseries, he added.

Capt Amarinder also informed the House about the statement made by Sushma in Parliament and requested the Chair to include their names in the obituary list. The House then paid homage to the deceased.

Shock and disbelief 

All these years, Sushma Swaraj kept lying to us. She had even told Parliament that our boys were alive. Now, she says all are dead. She should have believed Harjit Masih and then made efforts to bring the bodies back to India.” Kanwaljit Kaur, mother of deceased Dharminder singh

“We are small farmers and had no money to send our son to Iraq. We borrowed Rs 2 lakh for the purpose. The last call we received from him was about four years ago. However, going by Sushma Swaraj’s assurances, we hoped that our son might still be alive. But all her promises have proved hollow.” Harbhajan Singh, father of kamaljit singh

“Initially we were reluctant to send Rocky abroad. But he wanted to eke out a living in a foreign land. We got in touch with a travel agent, who took Rs 3 lakh. Our son will never return. From where will we return the money that we borrowed, and that too at a hefty interest rate from a commission agent?” Madan Lal, father of rakesh rocky

“Why did the minister have to lie all these years? Was she under pressure? I had an inkling that my son would not return because he had not called us for the past four years. Now the fact that he is dead has been confirmed. It’s a dark day for our family.”Sukhdev Singh, Father of Malkit singh