Worried faces, trembling hands, watery eyes, and with their voice shaking with emotions, the family members of 39 Punjabis, still hanging between hope and despair in strife-torn Iraq, met Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday.
Assuring them, Badal said that he would “once again” meet the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to ask her to expedite the process of bringing back 39 people from the State “trapped” in Mosul region of strife-torn Iraq.“I am personally keeping a close liaison with the Union Government, officers of MEA and the special envoy of India to Iraq Suresh Reddy to ensure safe return of Punjabis stranded in Iraq,” said Badal.
Expressing satisfaction over the efforts made by the Union Government to evacuate stranded Punjabis, Badal exhorted the families to have faith in the Government, which was not leaving any stone unturned for safe evacuation of every single Indian from that country, the release said.Badal also assured the families that on its part, the State Government is making strenuous efforts to expedite the process for the release of their next of kin, who were trapped in Iraqi civil war. Chief Minister has also spoken to special envoy of Indian Government to Iraq Suresh Reddy over phone, to get the latest update on this issue.
Reddy informed the Chief Minister that all 39 Punjabis were safe and the Union Government was exploiting all diplomatic channels to ensure their early release. The special envoy apprised Badal that they were in touch with the owner of the factory where these workers were employed so that they could be evacuated at the earliest. Reddy also spoke to a family member of one of the Punjabis to give assurance of their safe return.
The meeting was arranged by the state Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia who has returned to the state capital after his “disappearing act” post lok Sabha elections.Majithia, interacting with distressed families, lauded the Chief Minister for making concerted efforts to bail out these panic stricken families from the crisis.
“Probably these families are only across the country to have one to one dialogue with the Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, several times...The credit to campaign launched by Badal for the safe release of every Punjabi,” he said while assuring fulsome support and cooperation from the Punjab government to them.