India yet to secure release of 39 workers in ISIS’ captivity
India finally got its first bit of good news from violence-affected Iraq when 46 Indian nurses were released by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants on Friday.
These nurses were on Thursday taken out of Tikrit, against their will, by the militant group and shifted to Mosul. ISIS had told the nurses that they were being taken out for their safety. The Indian Government had advised them to go along. On Friday, these nurses were handed over to Indian officials in Erbil, about 70 km from Mosul. They will reach Kochi on Saturday morning.
However, the battle is only half won for India as it still has to secure release of 39 other construction workers who remain in captivity of the jehadis. Even though the release of the nurses raises hopes for them, it remains a challenge for the Narendra Modi Government which is facing its first foreign policy test. In fact, a similar situation is building up in Ukraine and India has asked its citizens living in eastern and southern Ukraine to leave the country immediately and avoid travel.
In Iraq, the release of the nurses coincides with the first Friday of Ramzan. Sources in MEA said extensive diplomatic contacts were made with partners within Iraq and outside it, while External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is in constant touch with her counterparts in Gulf countries and others seeking help.
Prime Minister Modi too was “hands on” all the time on this issue. “India has many friends. It has friends with assets. All assets were used,” said MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin. He added weeks of back-channel talks and sustained efforts got them the first success.
Terming the release of the nurses as victory of hope, Akbaruddin said it was a day of dramatic developments. “The Indian nurses who were moved out against their will are free today. They are in touch with the Indian Embassy officials at Erbil,” Akbaruddin said. The official said that the Indian officials were positioned in Erbil in advance as part of a “carefully crafted plan”. “We had anticipated their release, hence, sent out officials,” he said.
Akbaruddin, however, said the battle is half won as 39 Indian construction workers are still in captivity. Akbaruddin said the resources which were as of now focusing on securing release of nurses will now be diverted to get others free. “There are a significant number of Indians who are still in captivity. We won’t be satisfied till we reach culmination of our efforts in bringing all our nationals back,” he said. “It is an extremely tenuous situation. We are building links but it is still a long way to go. We are using all the tools to get these 39 men out. We won’t say how, with whom, where we are operating” Akbaruddin said. About 2,000 more Indians have desired to leave Iraq from non-conflict zones.
The spokesperson said that these nurses could have been rescued earlier had they utilized the window of opportunity available to them then. “A majority of the nurses took a call not to leave Iraq even when the violent situation was building up and there was a window of opportunity available to them. They changed their mind only when the situation deteriorated. But by then all land routes were dominated by the captors. But we utilised the next best opportunity available to us.”
The nurses are being brought back to India in a special Air India flight along with 70 more Indians who wanted to leave Iraq. A joint-secretary level diplomat and an IAS woman officer from Kerala are among the officials travelling on the special AI airplane to Erbil. In Kochi, anxiety of the nurses’ families gave way to hope and relief after learning about their release while authorities of the Kochi International Airport at Nedumbassery on Friday completed all the arrangements to receive them early morning on Saturday.
A high-level panel of airport authorities, constituted two days ago on instructions from the Centre, held a meeting on Friday to assess the arrangements. Sources said the nurses and their relatives would not face any difficulties at the airport.Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in Delhi that he would be at Kochi Airport to receive the nurses. He said the nurses’ release was made possible because of the effective intervention by the Centre and State Government. Chandy’s Cabinet colleagues, legislators and State Government officials too are expected to be at the airport.
The shifting of the nurses from Tikrit had generated panic in their families. Reports suggesting the possibility of the insurgents keeping them at some hospital in Mosul to treat their wounded had heightened this anxiety. However, the situation changed dramatically on Friday morning when the nurses called up their families to say that they could be released, that their captors had allowed them to use the phone and that they had been served breakfast.