Beheadings in Saudi MEA failure, says CM

Tribune News service

Chandigarh, April 17

Condemning as barbaric and inhuman the recent beheading of two Punjabis in Saudi Arabia, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday said he would seek a detailed report from India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on the matter.

Expressing shock and grief over the vicious act, which has been confirmed by MEA to have taken place on February 28, Capt Amarinder said it was atrocious that such incidents continued to happen in civilised nations in this day and age.

The Chief Minister flayed the MEA for failing to prevent and then not disclosing the execution of the two men, identified as Satwinder Kumar of Hoshiarpur and Harjeet Singh of Ludhiana, till it was forced to do so by a petition filed by Satwinder’s wife in Hoshiarpur district.

Capt Amarinder said he would approach Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj to secure details about the execution of the two allegedly in connection with a murder case. He would seek from the MEA information regarding the charges and would also question them on whether due legal representation was provided to the two.

If the executions were undertaken without prior information even to the Indian embassy in Saudi Arabia, with the victims not provided legal counsel, it amounted to a grave violation of the international human rights, the Chief Minister said.

Pointing out that just days before the reported beheadings, India had hosted the Saudi Crown Prince, whom PM Narendra Modi had received personally, the Chief Minister said given the friendly relations between the two leaders, getting the bodies of the two men back to India should not be difficult for the MEA.