Bodies of 38 Indians killed in Iraq to arrive in Amritsar at 1.30 pm today; families told not to open caskets

The remains of 38 Indian construction workers who were captured and killed by the Islamic State in northern Iraq were handed over to Indian authorities in Baghdad on Sunday and are expected to arrive in Amritsar today by 1.30 pm. Authorities in Amritsar are making the required arrangements to receive the bodies.

“All necessary arrangements have been made to transport the mortal remains of Indians killed in Iraq,” Amritsar’s deputy commissioner Kamaldeep Singh Sangha said on Sunday.

“As per the information we have received, the bodies are expected to reach the international airport at Amritsar at around 1.30 pm on Monday,” Sangha had told PTI over the phone.

According to the schedule, Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh, who went to Iraq on Sunday to received the bodies, will reach Amritsar first, he will then fly to Patna and Kolkata to hand over bodies to the relatives, officials said.

The remains are being flown to India in a special military plane.

On Monday, Singh shared a video on Twitter, where he could be seen transporting one of the bodies to the plane:

कुछ ज़िम्मेदारियों का बोझ काफी ज्यादा होता है। #RestInPeaceMyFellowIndians pic.twitter.com/7cyKDOySvY

— Vijay Kumar Singh (@Gen_VKSingh) April 2, 2018

Of the 39 Indians killed, 38 bodies have been identified while DNA identification of the third is still underway. Authorities are awaiting DNA samples from a first-degree relative. Of the 38 identified so far, 27 belonged to Punjab while four hailed from Himachal Pradesh, while the remaining seven are from Bihar and West Bengal.

Sangha said he held a meeting on Saturday with various stakeholders involved in the process of smooth handing over of the bodies to the relatives. “Those who took part in the meeting included director of the Amritsar international airport, officials of the customs, immigration, CISF, police, IAF, and bureau of civil aviation,” he said.

The Amritsar DC also spoke to his counterparts in other districts in Punjab and Himachal Pradesh.

Arrangements for ambulances and other vehicles for ferrying the coffins to the native places have been made by the respective district administration with all necessary assistance extended by the authorities in Amritsar, he said.

“As it is a sombre occasion and to ensure that no inconvenience is caused to the grieving relatives, we have made arrangements so that there is no chaos at the airport. The bodies will be brought out from a different exit passage,” he said.

According to The Indian Express, Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu, Haryana Food and Civil Supplies minister Krishan Kapoor and Deputy Commissioner, Kangra (Himachal Pradesh), Sandeep Kumar will be present at the airport to receive the mortal remains of the bodies.

Eight victims belonged to twin districts of Amritsar and adjoining Tarn Taran.

Families told to complete rites within 15 to20 minutes

Some of the family members of the deceased Indians in Amritsar, The Indian Express said, have been told by “doctors and the district administration in Amritsar not to open the coffins and conduct the last minute rites immediately ‘within 15 to 20 minutes of bodies reaching homes’”.

Meanwhile, family members of the Indians massacred by Islamic State are still trying to come to terms with the grim reality.

Dimplejeet Kaur, sister of Dharminder Kumar (27), said he was the sole breadwinner supporting a large family.

“All our hopes are dashed now; we are heartbroken,” she said.

Kumar went to Iraq to earn for his family in 2014. He was a resident of village Talwandi Jhira in Gurdaspur district.

Some of the family members of the victims, The Indian Express said,

Among the 39 Indians, most were from different places in Punjab like Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Jalandhar.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Budget Session of the state Assembly over a week ago, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh had promised adequate compensation by the state government for the families of the Iraq victims. He also demanded that the Centre also compensate the victims since the tragedy occurred overseas.

How the bodies were recovered

Last month, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had told Parliament that 40 Indians were abducted by Islamic State from Mosul in Iraq in June 2014, but one of them escaped posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh. The remaining 39 were taken to Badoosh and killed, she had said.

Islamic State had abducted and killed the workers shortly after seizing the northern city of Mosul in the summer of 2014. Iraqi authorities discovered the remains in a mass grave last year after retaking Mosul and positively identified the bodies last month.

The workers had been employed by a construction company operating near Mosul. Around 10,000 Indians lived and worked in Iraq at the time. Islamic State may have viewed the workers as polytheists deserving of death because of their Hindu or Sikh faith.

Islamic State swept across northern and central Iraq in 2014, eventually seizing a third of the country. Iraqi forces backed by a US-led coalition eventually drove the militants from all the territory under their control in a grueling three-year campaign. The militants are still carrying out insurgent-style attacks.

Dozens of mass graves have been found in areas held by the extremist group, which boasted about massacring its enemies and posted videos and photos of many of the mass killings online. Iraq has only managed to excavate a few of the sites due to a lack of funding and specialized staff.

Parliamentary panel to discuss safety of Indians working abroad

A parliamentary panel is meeting today to deliberate upon “safety and security of Indian workers in conflict zones”. The parliamentary standing committee on external affairs headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will deliberate upon various issues related to Indian migrant workers.

According to the Lok Sabha secretariat, the agenda of the meeting is “issues relating to migrant workers including appropriate legislative framework and skill development initiatives for prospective emigrants with particular emphasis on safety and security of Indian Workers in conflict zones”.

With agency inputs