Plan in place, ‘all is not lost’

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, July 10

“It has been a very tiring wait. But I can finally see the proverbial light at the end of a dark tunnel,” said Amritsar-based Manish Kumar Bawa, whose brother Harish Kumar Bawa went missing in Iraq three years ago.

He told The Tribune, “The office of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told me today that the government is on the job and has planned to send its emissary to secure the release of our kin.”

Bawa spoke to Swaraj’s private secretary this morning. It was learnt later that former Army Chief and Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh would travel to Iraq on this mission.

In Amritsar, Bawa and his family rejoiced in anticipation of long-awaited good news. They said, “There is now a negotiator in the form of the Iraqi Army. There is now some real hope.”

All this while, a major impediment, according to the government, was the absence of official machinery with which to negotiate the release. The government told the families it could not talk to a terrorist outfit.

“Every time we broached the issue, Sushma Swaraj would say that the government knew of the safety of our kin through multiple sources. We have, however, never been able to speak to them,” said Seema Devi of Amritsar, whose husband Sonu Masih, a construction site worker, is also among the missing.

Now that a rescue plan seems in place, the first thing these families want is to hear the voices of their kin to be sure they are alive.

Patience put to test 

Amritsar: Bhoewal village resident Gurpinder Kaur’s brother Manjinder Singh is among those stuck in Mosul. She said on Monday, “We have been in touch with the Ministry of External Affairs since Sunday. They have told us to be patient.” The missing youths from Amritsar district include Harsimranjit Singh of Babbowal village, Gurcharan Singh of Jalal Usma village, Nishan Singh of Sangowana village and Ranjit Singh of Manawala village. Five of them are from Gurdaspur. TNS

Govt claim taken with pinch of salt 

Parminder Lucky, whose three relatives were among the Punjabis abducted in Mosul, said all these years, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had maintained that all Punjabis were safe. However, in a meeting with the families last month, she informed that only 25 youths were found to be safe inside a church in the Mosul city, said Lucky while speaking to The Tribune over phone from the UAE. He raised a suspicion over the minister’s assurance and said there seems to be no church in the Mosul city. The only church, a 1,800-year-old Catholic Church in Mosul, was torched by the ISIS militants long ago.

Capt seeks MEA help

New Delhi: Punjab CM Capt Amarinder Singh on Monday called up Minster for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj and sought her intervention to facilitate the return of 39 Indians, mostly from Punjab, who had been held hostage in Mosul (Iraq) since 2014. A communication from the CMO said in a telephonic conversation with Swaraj, Capt Amarinder told Sushma that the families of the hostages were keenly awaiting their return following Iraq’s victory over IS in Mosul. He said the Centre’s support was imperative to bring back the hostages, employed for construction work. TNS