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New Delhi, April 2: Minister of State For External Affairs General (Retd) VK Singh lost his cool on Monday on being asked if the kin of 38 Indians who were killed by ISIS will be given compensation or government jobs. “Look, this is not a game of football, both the centre and state government are sensitive about the matter. The families were told earlier to give a list of their family members, along with their qualifications, who are most eligible for a job, and we will collaborate with the state government and make the adequate arrangements,” Singh stoked controversy, while addressing media at Amritsar.
The minister also lashed out at family members who had alleged that they were kept in dark. “My suggestion to the families is that we have got back your people. Do their last rites. In our system, irrespective of religion, nobody rests in peace till their last rites are done. Don’t get involved in unnecessary politics,” Singh told the family members on Monday.
This is not a game of football, Both state and central govt are sensitive govts, EAM had asked the families for the details of their members who can be given jobs etc, we will review: VK Singh,MoS MEA on whether kin of the 38 Indians will be given jobs pic.twitter.com/J0ryINOc1P
— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2018
Ye biscuit baantne wala kaam nahi hai, ye admiyon ki zindagi ka sawal hai,a gayi baat samajh mein?Main abhi elaan kahan se karoon?Jeb mein koi pitaara thodi rakha hua hai: VK Singh,MoS MEA on if there would be some compensation announced today for kin of 38 Indians killed in Iraq pic.twitter.com/jQFp2IXDLW
— ANI (@ANI) April 2, 2018
However, the Punjab government had announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh and one government job as per qualification for the aggrieved 27 family members of 39 Indians. Mentioning that 27 of the 39 dead were from Punjab, state Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu said,”Ex-gratia compensation of Rs 5 lakh per family, job for one person per family will be given and current pension of Rs 20,000 to continue.”
Earlier in the day, the special aircraft carrying mortals of deceased landed in Amritsar in the afternoon. The body of the 39th worker was not released by the Iraqi authorities as the DNA test was only 70 per cent complete.
Last month, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had announced in Parliament that the 39 Indians kidnapped by the ISIS in 2014 in Mosul had been killed at Badush. She said that their bodies were identified using deep penetration radar. The mortal remains were sent for DNA examination, which confirmed that the bodies were of the 38 Indians. The body of one worker from Bihar could not be identified.
40 Indian workers were abducted by ISIS in 2014 when the terrorist group invaded Mosul. One of them escaped the clutches of Islamic State by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh. The remaining 39 were taken to Badoosh and killed. They were buried in a mass grave.
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