Two years after 39 Indian workers, most of them from Punjab, were kidnapped by the ISIS in Iraq, their fate still remains unknown.
Harjit Masih was the only one who managed to escape and reach India a few months later. He made a startling claim that all the captured Indians were shot dead by the ISIS, a claim that was instantly rejected by the Indian government.
The Indian ministry of external affairs has so far maintained that the Indian workers are safe in Iraq, however the ministry couldn’t ascertain their location.
Although the families of these kidnapped Indians have remained hopeful of their safe return, but the lingering fear that they might have been shot dead within days of their abduction has been confirmed by Kurdish officials via email last week toThe Indian Express.
The Indian government contested the email, saying that External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has received information from intelligence services that claim some of them are safe and negotiations are on for their release.
The Kurdish intelligence officials believe that the Indian workers were initially held by local Mosul militia with links to ousted dictator Saddam Husain’s Ba’ath party, but then handed over to Islamic State for execution.
This information is devastating to the families of the workers who have been repeatedly assured by the Indian government of their safety.
The families of these workers got together in Amritsar on Sunday and have asked the government to give them a “clear answer”.
“When we exert some pressure on the government, they meet us and tell us everyone is safe… trust us.. they will be back. But then they forget us completely,” said Gurpinder Kaur whose brother is among the missing Indians.
“The last meeting took place in February. There has been no information since then. We have no idea what efforts are being made… I feel, no efforts are being made at all,” she added.
Kurdish authorities had revealed to The Indian Express in 2014 that they had evidence of mass graves being dug near Mosul, which they believed could contain the remains of the Indian workers.
