Punjab CM assures proper assistance package for Iraq victims

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today assured the state Assembly, and the families of those from the state killed by the Islamic State in Iraq, his government will work out a proper assistance package for them, and will continue giving them a monthly pension until it is done.

During his reply to a debate on the motion of thanks on the Governor's address, the chief minister said in the Vidhan Sabha that as the state awaits the bodies of those confirmed dead in Mosul, his government is working out an adequate assistance package for the affected families.

"The mortal remains of 27 Punjabis of the total 39 killed by the ISIS will reach Amritsar airport early next week," he said, urging members of the House to receive the bodies at the airport.

 

The chief minister said he had requested the Ministry of External Affairs to announce ex gratia to the families and his government was awaiting their decision.

The chief minister said he was in constant touch with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her junior minister V K Singh to ensure the mortal remains are brought back at the earliest and with due respect.

Presently, the families of the victims from Punjab are being given a monthly pension of Rs 20,000 by the state government.

Swaraj had told Parliament last week that the 39 Indians, abducted by the ISIS in Iraq in 2014, had been killed and their bodies recovered.

As many as 40 Indians were abducted by the ISIS terror group from Mosul in Iraq but one of them escaped posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, Swaraj had said in Rajya Sabha.

The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed, she had said.

Search operations led to a mound in Badoosh where locals said some bodies were buried by the ISIS. Deep penetration radars were used to establish that the mound indeed was a mass grave, she had said, adding the Indian authorities requested their Iraqi counterpart to exhume the bodies.

Swaraj said the mass grave had exactly 39 bodies, with distinctive features such as long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. The bodies were then sent to Baghdad for DNA testing.

The DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation established the identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70 per cent matching of the DNA for the 39th person, she had said.