Congress terms Modi Govt. heartless on the death of Indians in Iraq

After Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed the death of 39 Indians, abducted by the Islamic State in Iraq, the Congress on Tuesday termed the Modi government heartless for misleading the country over their deaths.

Speaking to ANI, the Congress spokesperson, Randeep Surjewala said, "Modi Government has passed all limits of heartlessness when the whole world was saying they have died, the Indian Government assured the country and the kin that they are alive."

The Congress spokesperson further accused Swaraj of playing politics on this issue.

"Unfortunately the one who is playing politics on this issue is Sushma Swaraj ji. She misled the parliament and kin seven times. Today Martyrs Foundation announced they will hold a media briefing on the issue, so as a result Government panicked and announced before them," Surjewala added.

Another Congress leader Ambika Soni asked the External Affairs Minister to aplogise to the families of the deceased for keeping them in dark.

"We want EAM to go and meet the families of the deceased and apologise to them publicly. She should say that she kept them in the dark while she had no concrete information," said Soni.

Earlier, the EAM had confirmed in the Rajya Sabha that all the 39 Indians, who went missing in Mosul in the year 2014, were killed by the Islamic State (IS).

Swaraj said that Minister of State (MoS) External Affairs General V.K. Singh will go to Mosul in Iraq to bring back the mortal remains of the 39 Indian nationals killed there.

While speaking at the Rajya Sabha, Swaraj explained that the plane carrying the mortal remains will first go to Amritsar, then to Patna and Kolkata.

The 39 persons, most of whom hailed from Punjab, were working on projects near Mosul when they were kidnapped during their evacuation.