External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said that the 39 Indians, kidnapped by the Islamic State militant group in Iraq in June 2014, are still alive. In her annual press conference in New Delhi yesterday, she dismissed reports about their killing and insisted that efforts to trace them are on. To a query, Mrs Swaraj said, she did not have any proof of their killing than the statement of Harjit Masih.
Harjit, who had managed to flee from captivity of the ISIS, claimed all the 39 Indians had been killed. Mrs Swaraj questioned Harjit’s claim saying two heads of states in the Gulf region told her, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Pranab Mukherjee that the kidnapped Indians were alive.
The External Affairs Minister also said, the government was trying its best to ensure safe release of Judith D’Souza, an aid worker and resident of Kolkata, who was abducted by suspected militants in Kabul on 9th of this month. She also said, India was in touch with top authorities in Bangladesh after a priest of Rama Krishna Mission in Dhaka received death threat.
Replying to a question on a spate of targeted attacks and killings of Hindus and other non-Muslims in Bangladesh, Mrs Swaraj said, the Sheikh Hasina government is leaving no stone unturned in coming down hard on people who are involved in these incidents.
She further said, the government was drafting a policy to help persecuted minorities in various countries. She said, the government will help people of all religions and not only the Hindus.