(Amrit Pal Singh ‘Amrit’)

It was in June, 2014 that 39 Indians were abducted in Iraq by terrorists belonging to the Islamic State. Since than the External Affairs minister Mrs Sushma Swaraj had been claiming that the abducted Indians are alive, despite an eyewitness saying otherwise.

Harjit Masih, one of the 40 workers who were kidnapped by the Islamic State had claimed that the militants took them on a hillock, lined them up and shot them from the back. He said that he was hit on his leg and fell down feigning death. He later ran to safety.

The unreasonable claim made by our External Affairs minister was supported by the Palestinian Authorities as well. They not only made false claims that the abducted Indians were alive, but also said that they (the Palestinian Authorities) were trying to secure their release through their own channels in Iraq.

39 men belonging to poor families were killed by the Islamic State in 2014 and our Indian minister and Palestinian Authorities had been saying they were alive.

Now, when DNA samples of 38 people have matched and DNA of the 39th person has matched 70 percent, our minister accepted that those 39 people were killed.

At the same time, our minister has made another claim that the story of Harjit Masih, who managed to escape from ISIS, was a lie. Harjit had claimed the Indians were shot dead soon after they were abducted, but that was not how it happened.

Here is the link of a news published on May 14, 2015 about Harjit Masih:-
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/ISIS-killed-39-Indian-hostages-Iraq-survivor-says/articleshow/47285947.cms

I really feel for these families. They had lost their earning members and false hope shown by our minister did not let them perform their last rituals. Now, the remains will be brought back from Iraq and these unfortunate families will perform their last rituals.

I cannot imagine what these families must be feeling right now. My heartfelt condolences.