External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj assured the families of 42 Indians detained by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Iraq, that they were alive.
“Although our sources do not have any evidence to show, they are repeating that the men are alive. The information we have is from other sources. We have not established contact with them (Indians) yet but we have no reason to doubt the information that we have. They are being made to work and hence being cared for by their captors,” she said.
The Indians were detained by the ISIL around June 11, when Mosul fell to the insurgent group. The last their families heard from them on phone was on June 15.
Ms. Swaraj added that as per a request from the families, another official is being sent on Thursday to assist Indian Envoy in Erbil Suresh Reddy. “We will also ask other political parties if anyone is willing to help. The relatives are not putting any undue pressure but they have asked for proof that their boys are alive,” she told reporters after meeting the families here on Tuesday.
The families were accompanied by Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Shiromani Akali Dal leaders. “Our prime concern is to keep them safe,” Ms. Badal said.
Chandrabhan Tiwari, father of a captive from Siwan in Bihar, said that they were informed by Ms. Swaraj that their boys were being put to work in different factories by the ISIL. “She said that six sources have confirmed that our children are alive,” he told The Hindu .
A sister of one of the detainees, Gurpinder Kaur from Amritsar, confirmed that a man named Lucky Singh who worked there earlier has volunteered to go help the envoy. “The minister said that she would let us know if they would take him, after discussions in the ministry,” she told The Hindu .
