India lagging in Iraq rescue operations: NRI Sabha

Wednesday, 25/06/2014

http://epaper.dailypostindia.com/Details.aspx?id=108489&boxid=58766&uid=&dat=2014-06-25

Jalandhar : The BJP-led Centre government has failed in initiating concrete rescue operations for the Punjabis trapped in war affected Iraq, leading to panic among their helpless families back home in the rural belts of the state.

“If timely rescue operation for the Punjabis and the Indians in particular was not taken, it could prove fatal for India,” said NRI Punjab president Jasvir Singh Gill.

Gill said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj have not been able to take up any major decision in safeguarding the Indians in Iraq. There were an estimated 10,000 Indians stuck in Iraq which included over 3000 Punjabis. “In the time of crisis, the Indian government should take support from the US, UK and the France governments, who have already safely evacuated many of their trapped people in war torn Iraq cities,” he added.

The NRI Sabha president however was all praise for Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who he said had been making extra efforts through all channels to bring Punjabis back home. “Even NRI Sabha had been working in close association with Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav to assist in any vital information about Punjabis in Iraq,” he said.

Addressing a press conference, the NRI Sabha president also blamed the Indian Embassy at Baghdad in Iraq for not assisting the Indians in need. “It was shocking to know that the Indian Embassy officials were not even properly attending the calls of helpless Punjabi families. Instead of facilitating in the hour of crisis, the Embassy officials had been taunting them with lame and baseless dialogues,” he said.

“The Indian Embassy officials were the sole source of communication in Iraq with the Indian government and if they were behaving reckless, it would end up causing a major trouble to the Punjabis,” he added.

Gill also maintained that they have decided to write to the United Nations Human Rights Council against the violations of workers rights in Iraq. “All the Punjabis were lying trapped while their passports were withheld by their companies, who have already fled to safer nations. While Punjabis were in the lurch without any food and salary and shelter, the owners were giving two hoots to their safety,” he said.

He also blamed the illegal travel agents nexus through which gullible Punjabi youth were being lured in the name of better jobs and salaries. “Till date, there were only 121 registered travel agents while 2200 illegal travel agents were thriving in the state. The Punjab government has enacted the Punjab Travel Regulation Act but the nexus of the illegal agents was far and wide and it was required to be broken to ensure the safety of the immigrants to the foreign shores, especially in the Middle East countries,” he said.

“We would also write to the government that the ticketing agents should procure the travel documents of the immigrant to the foreign shores, so that their valid details remains with the authorities in India,” he added.