Congress to move Privilege Motion against Swaraj for misleading kin of 39 Indians

Congress on Thursday announced that they would move a Privilege Motion against External Affairs Minister (EAM) Sushma Swaraj for misleading the families of the Indians killed in Iraq by the Islamic State.

Swaraj on Tuesday told Parliament in New Delhi that the 39 Indians kidnapped in 2014 by the IS terrorists had been killed. Four years ago, the Ministry of External Affair said the kidnapped Indians were alive.

"We are going to bring a Privilege Motion against the External Affairs Minister for misleading the families of the 39 Indians as well as the House," senior Congress leader Ambika Soni told reporters here.

Congress leader and former MoS for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor, too, had criticised the government for giving false hope to the families of the hostages all these years.

"Giving falsehood to people is actually cruel and suggests a certain level of lack transparency on part of the government, Tharoor said.

Echoing on similar views, another Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Wednesday asked the central and state governments to extend financial assistance, including government jobs, for the family members of the victims.

The 39 persons, most of whom hailed from Punjab, were working on projects near Mosul when they were kidnapped during their evacuation in 2014.