Govt believes 39 Indians held hostage by ISIS still alive

New Delhi Government believes that 39 Indians held hostage by ISIS in Iraq are still alive as there is no confirmation of reports that they have been killed Parliament was told today amid concerns express by members over their fateExternal Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj made statements in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha after a media report claimed that the 39 Indians captured over five months back had been killed by the dreaded Islamist groupSushma SwarajThe media report was based on the statements of two Bangladeshis who quoted an escapee Harjeet as claiming that kidnapped Indians have been killed Sawaraj said but added that there was no proof to confirm itOn the one hand there is one source about which there is no confirmation Six different sources have informed the government that they have not been killed she said in identical statements after Deputy Leader of Congress Anand Sharma raised the matter in Rajya Sabha and his party colleague Jyotiraditya Scindia in Lok SabhaAsking the House whether the government should go by what one person was saying or believe six other sources she said as a responsible government she would not like to give up the search till there is any concrete proof We do not accept his statement Our prayers and hopes are alive Our search for their safe release is onIt is my duty and responsibility to keep the hope of tracing them alive and bring them home safely Swaraj saidShe informed Parliament that two more officers who can speak Arabic also have been deployed for securing their release besides a senior IFS officer who is already on the job for the last five monthsThe External Affairs Minister said she had received written communication from different sources which maintain that the abducted Indians were not killed and that she had shared the information with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal as most of them were from PunjabWhile stating this she emphasised that members cannot go by media reports and assume that they have been killed as there is no corroboration to the claim There is no solid proof of either they being alive or killed she saidA media report cited statements of Shafi and Hassan Bangladeshis who claimed to have been released by their ISIS captors after segregating them from Indians to claim that 39 Indians had been killed They based their claim on what they had been told by HarjeetShafi and Hassan have made the claim but they are not eyewitnesses and their statements are only secondary in nature They have not said they were killed before them they are only quoting Harjeet who is one source whose confirmation no one has made she saidHarjeet was in the group of 40 Indians who had been kidnapped in June but he later managed to escape Swaraj confirmed that Harjeet the only escapee from the custody of ISIS was in the governments safe custody He faces threat to his life and can endanger the lives of others also she said as he is the lone persons who has escaped from their captivityThe government is working in adverse circumstances for ensuring their release and have been utilising all resources in the Gulf including establishing contact with heads of states in the area the Minister said She said there is no issue of anyone trying to takecredit for securing their release and government has sought the help of former Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed who has good contacts in the Gulf countries to secure their releaseRaising the issue in Rajya Sabha soon after the House assembled Anand Sharma said government had made a statement in the House on June 22 claiming that contact had been established with the abducted people seven days after the alleged killingBoth the Houses have been misled by the government If this was known then why this was not told in the House and why assurances were given to the families of those abducted How did this happen Was the government really in the dark and kept sitting and giving assurances With deep sadness we feel big incidents are happening and the Prime Minister has not even made one statement on theissue either in the country or abroadThe same Prime Minister used to say that we will look into their eye I know he cannot do anything and is merely making statements The Prime Minister is answerable said Sharma He said the government should ensure the safety and security of lakhs of Indians working in West AsiaNDA ally SAD also wanted clarity on the issue BSP chief Mayawati JDU leader Sharad Yadav CPIMs P Rajeeve TMC member Derek OObrien SP member Jaya Bachchan were among others who expressed concern over the media report Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha Scindia accused the External Affairs Minister of misleading the House and claimed that the government had failed to protect the workersIf the reports about their being killed long back are correct then the government has misled the people and Parliament he said demanding a full and transparent reply He received support from members of CPIM and Aam Aadmi PartyThe government is responsible Scindia said adding that earlier the House was told that the release of the 40 workers would come as an Eid gift Swaraj took objection to allegations that she had misled the House At this Leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge saidno one has cast aspersions on her and all were only concerned about the wellbeing of the abducted workers In the midst of the discussion BJP member S S Ahluwalia said please stop this discussion as the islamic state is also watching the Parliament session as it is in publicTo this Swaraj said such operations depend on complete secrecy Please dont ask me to elaborate on this The day I get any concrete evidence either about what Harjeet has said or six of our sources are saying I will myself report to Parliament