Mann, Verka ask govt to come up with truth
Saturday, 16/05/2015
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AMRITSAR: As the families of those missing in Iraq worry after survivor Harjit Masih claimed that the 39 others held hostage had been killed, Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann and National Commission for SCs/ STs vice-chairman Raj Kumar Verka have asked the government to come clear on the issue.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann and National SC/ST Commission vice-chairman Raj Kumar Verka with a missing youth’s family at the Circuit House in Amritsar on Friday.
They were addressing a press conference here on Friday. It had been announced that Masih would be present with them at the press conference but just before it started it was said that he would not be able to make it as police were looking for him.
Requesting the National Commission for SCs/STs to intervene, Mann said, “I still pray that whatever Masih has said is false and all the youths are alive. I want the Centre to come clear on the issue.” He said, “Whatever I am saying is above party level as it is about the lives of 39 Indians who have lost contact with their families after being kidnapped. The government has made enough delay and the families are fed up, so it is time the government came up with the truth.” ‘SUSHMA MUST RESIGN, MODI MUST GO TO IRAQ’
Criticising the government, Verka said external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj had failed on the issue and she must resign. He said Prime Minister Modi must cancel his China tour and go to Iraq for the sake of the Indians missing there. The government has been talking of its sources there but till date has failed to provide even a single evidence about the 39 Indians there. Verka said he had written to the President and would soon take the affected families to him. FAMILY DOESN’T TRUST MASIH
Kanwaljit Kaur, whose son Dharminder Kumar is among the 39 missing in Iraq, who was also present, said, “I am worried about my son and want the government to do something. I don’t believe in what Masih has said. We want the government to give us clear proof about those stuck there.”
She said, “My son had gone to Iraq about two years back and it was in June last year that he last spoke to us. Thereafter, we have not heard from him.”
