Kin want proof of deaths

Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 20

Families of persons declared dead on Tuesday are not ready to believe External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s latest statement as earlier she had been claiming that all were “safe”.

Sukhdeep Kaur, sister of Harsimarjit Singh (23), a resident of Babowal village near Majitha, said, “If he had died, the government should not have taken four years to confirm it.”

Harsimarjit went to Iraq in 2014. After completing Class XII, he wished to work in a foreign country. A travel agent from Fatehgarh Churian, Rajbir Singh, arranged visa for him.

The family paid Rs 3 lakh to the agent. A few months later, Harsimarjit informed his parents on the phone that he had got a job. He also sent two months’ salary to them. Later, they lost contact with him. Harsimarjit was the lone brother of two younger sisters.

Ranjit Singh (30) of Manawala landed in Iraq in 2014. The family had only half-acre ancestral land and gave Rs 3 lakh to Rajbir by taking a non-institutional loan. Ranjit’s father Balwinder Singh had died in 2005. The family is yet to repay the loan.

Balwinder’s sister Jasbir Kaur said, “We got the last call from Ranjit on June 15, 2014. He said armed persons had made them hostage, but they were being given food... We lost our brother, who wanted to end our poverty.”

The family of Nishan Singh of Sanguana village in Ajnala block are still hoping for his return.

‘Lucky to be alive’

Amritsar: Dharminder of Chawinda Devi village was among the few persons from Amritsar district who survived the ISIS onslaught on Mosul and returned safely. He said, “We lost our hard-earned money, and are lucky to be alive.” Dharminder spent around Rs 1 lakh to arrange Iraq visa. He got a job at a water filtering plant. “All of a sudden, the ISIS captured the city. We heard blasts. The company manager asked us to rush to a safer place. We reached Baghdad airport in a company vehicle,” Dharminder said. “The Iraq Government sent us to Bahrain, followed which we reached India,” he added. Nishan Singh of Boohalia village also survived the ISIS incursion. He now works in Kuwait. Avtar Singh used to work in Mosul, but he left the job in view of the “high risk”. TNS