Families of Indians killed in Iraq recount their struggle for information

Fighting off their tears, family members of the eight people from Amritsar and Tarn Taran districts confirmed dead in Iraq today, recounted their struggle over the past nearly four years for authoritative information about them.

The eight people from the two districts in Punjab were among the 39 Indians abducted by the Islamic State terrorist group in 2014. Their whereabouts had remained uncertain until now and the families had hoped they would see them alive.

That hope unexpectedly shattered today.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed in the Rajya Sabha today that the 39 Indians were killed in the Iraqi city of Mosul, liberated from the dreaded group in June last year.

Following the confirmation, a pall of gloom descended on the bereaved families.

Gurwinder Kaur's eyes were moist as she unsuccessfully tried to hold off her tears. A resident of Mehta village, she said her brother Manjinder Singh had gone to Iraq for employment.

"One day, I got a telephone call from my brother from Iraq, informing he was stuck and it seemed difficult to come out of the unpredictable circumstances due to terrorist activities," she said.

The Union government, she said, offered her empathetic words over the years "but nothing was done by the government."