‘Congress Playing Politics Over Deaths of Indians in Iraq’: Sushma

Swaraj Swaraj asserted that her government does not believe in the theory of “missing, believed to be killed”.

Sushma Swaraj addressing a press conference. 

(Photo: PTI)

Minutes after confirming in the Parliament that 39 Indians who were kidnapped by the Islamic State in 2014 were dead, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressed a press conference, where she spent the first many minutes slamming the Congress for ‘engaging in politics’ over their deaths.

The Opposition had raised loud slogans in the Lok Sabha as Sushma Swaraj had sought permission from Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to deliver her statement on the deaths of 39 Indians in Mosul.

Today, the Congress indulged in very low level of politics. Probably the Congress president thought how no uproar happened in Rajya Sabha and decided to ask (Jyotiraditya) Scindia ji to lead the protests in Lok Sabha. Congress must explain why it disrupted the Lok Sabha proceedings when I was to give details on the deaths.

Sushma Swaraj

On Why She Did Not Tell the Kin of Victims About the Deaths First

Explaining why she did not tell the families of the victims first about the deaths first before telling the Parliament, Swaraj said she was "duty-bound by parliamentary procedure".

Some kin of the victims have questioned as to why they were not told about the deaths before the parliament. It is parliamentary procedure to first inform the house, so it was my duty.

Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs

Seeking to reject the allegations that the dead bodies were found in mass graves with lakhs of people, the External Affairs Minister asserted that they were instead found under a separate mound near Badush village in Iraq.

Among the 39 bodies that were found there, some of them had long hair. Some of the deceased belonged to the Sikh community... We sent the bodies for DNA testing and we were told only yesterday that the DNA samples of 38 people had been matched. Meanwhile, the verification of one more victim is under processing.

Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs

“This Govt Doesn’t Believe in the Theory of ‘Missing, Believed to be Killed’”

Swaraj further asserted that no government can declare anyone dead without proof and her government does not believe in the theory of "missing, believed to be killed".

We did not keep anyone in dark, it was not falsehood but tireless effort...When they were killed is not known. It could be six months back or two years back. In any case, the search for bodies would have begun only after the liberation of Mosul.

Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs

Out of the 38 Indians killed, 27 are from Punjab, four are from Himachal, five are from Bihar, and two are from West Bengal. The 39th person, whose DNA verification is not complete, also hails from Bihar.

On Harjit Masih

On Harjit Masih - the lone survivor who had managed to flee from ISIS captivity in Iraq, and who has been maintaining that all others had been killed - Swaraj said:

Harjit Masih is just an individual, he could claim 39 others are dead. But we are the government, we can’t say this so easily. We have to be responsible.

Sushma Swaraj, Minister of External Affairs

She also rejected allegations that Masih was harassed, saying that he had only been kept under protective custody.