Politics is essentially the art of one-upmanship. Every party tries to outsmart each other with their 'Chanakya' strategy. But there comes certain time, when every parties need to put their petty interest aside in broad national interest. However, that common courtesy and decency was absent in the Lower House of Parliament.
India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj wanted to give a detailed statement in Lok Sabha on the confirmation of death of 39 Indians in Iraq. However, the opposition which has refused to let the House function continued in the same vein even on the face of such tragic news. They decided to stick to their pre-planned routine of scuttling operation of the House and didn't think it's prudent to let the minister make her statement. Amid the din, Sushma Swaraj couldn't make her statement.
LS Speaker Sumitra Mahajan was shocked with the development. She said, " This is not proper, do not be so insensitive, please do not indulge in such politics!". She further lamented, " The country has never seen such a sorry state, this is not proper. You are insensitive for your own people".
Swaraj on her part said, "It is something sad that I want to tell the house and it cannot be done in this ruckus."
All the 39 Indians, who were abducted by ISIS in Iraq nearly three years back, were killed and their bodies have been recovered, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said today.
As many as 40 Indians were originally abducted by terrorist organisation ISIS in June 2015 from Mosul in Iraq but one of them escaped by posing as a Muslim from Bangladesh, Swaraj said in a suo motu statement in Rajya Sabha. The remaining 39 Indians were taken to Badoosh and killed. 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 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 like long hair, non-Iraqi shoes and IDs. The bodies were then sent to Baghdad for DNA testing. DNA testing by Martyrs Foundation has established identity of 38 Indians while there has been 70 per cent matching of the DNA for the 39th person, she said.
Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh will be flying to Iraq to bring back the bodies on a special flight.
Speaking about the Opposition behaviour, he said: “It is the job of the opposition to take things the wrong way. I do not want to say anything about it.”
With PTI inputs
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