Claiming that there cannot be any finality on the fate of 39 Indians abducted from Mosul in Iraq three years ago unless the Government received “direct evidence” from Iraq, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said on Wednesday that there was no “substantial proof” whether the Indian construction labourers taken hostage by the ISIS were dead or alive and to “declare them dead without proof will be a sin.”
Dismissing allegations that she misled the country on the issue, Sushma said in the lok Sabha that she was only ‘faithfully’ communicating to the House and the affected families the information which she got from foreign sources. Sushma said in her effort to get to the exact details of the abduction trail six nations were followed as she herself visited Turkey and spoke to the Foreign Minister of that country.
The External Affairs Minister said she met the families of the labourers 12 times and also briefed them on the information collected by Minister of State for External Affairs General (Retd.) VK Singh during his visit to Iraq, and that given to the Indian Government by foreign countries.
“I gave details but said I have no evidence. The information was coming from Rs secondary sources’ and not from the direct ones. I have no direct contacts with them”, Sushma said adding a final conclusion could only be made when firm evidence comes forth from Iraq or any other country.
“We will continue our efforts to trace them till the time we get evidence that they are dead, as declaring them dead without proof will be a sin and I will not commit that sin,” she said.
Giving the backdrop of the incident, Sushma said the hostage incident happened on June 15, 2014 just 20 days after the BJP Government was in the saddle at the Centre. Indians were caught in Mosul, 400 km from the Iraqi Capital, taken to hospital, reported doing farming, and thereafter informatively lodged in Badush Jail in 2016. “There has been no contact with them for the last one-and-a-half year,” she said.
“This file will not close till there is proof that the 39 Indians are dead,” she said, adding Vietnam still looks for soldiers who went missing or are believed to be killed in the Vietnam War. Even the US still looks for soldiers who went missing in World War II.
This apart, the Minister cited the case of Major Dhan Singh Thapa, Paramveer Chakra winner, who, though declared dead, came out alive from a Chinese jail after a long passage of time.
She quoted Singh as saying that even war has a tradition of categorizing - Prisoners of War, Missing, Killed and those believed to be killed and said it is the Government’s responsibility that the files of those ‘Believed to be killed’ are not closed.
The Minister’s articulate and firm assertion on the issue came two days after Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said here that there was no “substantial evidence” on whether the Indians were alive or dead and confirmed that the prison at Badush, their last known location, has been demolished by the terror group ISIS.
Referring to the demolition of the Badush Jail, Sushma said she had suggested to the Iraqi Foreign Minister to look for the jail warden and find out from him details about the Indians. She said even a list of prisoners will help.
“Our questions are, if the jail was demolished, then were the Indians there and whether the inmates were killed. If they were killed, where are the bodies...Is there any blood trail,” she said.
Sushma said she has requested the Iraqi Foreign Minister to provide information about the Indian labourers with “evidence” to which the latter has acceded to. “Without evidence, I will not meet families,” she said.
However, the Congress appeared to be not satisfied with her statement as its leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We will give a notice to discuss foreign affairs and then we will see what you (Sushma) had said in 2014.”
Kharge stated this after Speaker Sumitra Mahajan disallowed any questions on Sushma’s statement.
Earlier, the External Affairs Minister, referring to a statement she made in lok Sabha in November 2014, said whatever she did in the case was with the consent of the House.
Sushma on July 16, based on information gathered by VK Singh during his recent visit to Iraq, had stated that Badush Jail in north-west Mosul was the last known location of the Indians.
In her statement on Wednesday, she said she never said that the Indians were in the jail and that as per information, they were taken to Badush in early 2016.
“The Iraqi Foreign Minister said they do not have concrete information whether they are alive or not. He never said they are dead. He told me that in Iraq it is said that wait is worse than death,” she said.
The Iraqi Foreign Minister also had said that ISIS had seized control of Badush Jail and it was demolished.
Sushma said she told her Iraqi counterpart that she will not accept anything on the issue without “proof” and requested him to continue the search for them.
She cited an example of the Congress Government declaring a soldier martyred in the 1971 War and after 45 years, it was found that he was in a jail in Pakistan.
“If someone feels they are dead, then you are free to go to the families. But if any one of them (Indians) comes back, then it will be your responsibility. Similarly, their families are free to carry out ardas (rituals) but it will be their responsibility if someone comes back,” she said.
The Minister said she had never misled Parliament or the families of the abducted Indians. “I have never misled. I want to ask the Opposition what benefit will I get by misleading. What benefit will my Government get by misleading the people on the issue,” she asked.
Sushma said one person, Harjit Masih, who was also abducted along with the 39 Indians but had managed to flee from captivity, had said the Indians were killed, but six sources had told the Government that they were alive.
“There were contradictions in Masih’s version. That is why I told our Embassy to find out details about them,” she said.
Mentioning about her earlier statement, Sushma said, “I had said that one person said the 39 Indians were killed while six sources said otherwise.”