The Congress and other Opposition parties on Tuesday sought to corner the Government over the killing of 39 Indians in Iraq’s Mosul questioning why the ruling regime gave ‘false hope’ to the nation and why it didn’t inform the families of the victims before informing the Parliament. It also sought External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s apology.
"We want External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to go and meet the families of the deceased and apologise publicly. She should say that she kept them in the dark and that she had no concrete information," senior Congress leader Ambika Soni said.
While Congress president Rahul Gandhi offered his condolences, leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad said that it was not just a tragedy for the families but for the entire country. Maintaining that the entire country was sad, Azad said the Ministry of External Affairs had forcefully asserted in Parliament last year that they are alive but was now saying they are dead.
Another Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said "Sad news of the confirmation of the deaths of 39 Indians in Iraq. Thoughts & prayers are w/their families. But why did the Govt give false hope to the nation for three and a half years that the people were still aliveIJ That was disappointing behavior".
The CPI (M) lashed out at the government for not informing the families of the Mosul victims before informing Parliament. CPI (M) member of lok Sabha Mohammad Salim said it showed how "insensitive and inhuman" the government is.
Congress communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala said the Modi government has "crossed all limits of insensitivity" as it preferred to make the announcement on television rather than calling up every families and informing them individually. External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said since the Parliament is in session, so the families were not informed before.