Family members of Rev. Alexis Prem Kumar, the Catholic priest from Sivaganga district who was abducted by the Taliban in Afghanistan nearly two months ago, have secured an appointment to meet External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in New Delhi on Thursday.
A day after The Hindu carried a report on July 15 that the family members had sought an appointment with Ms. Swaraj and were spending anxious moments with prayers, a spokesman from the External Affairs Ministry called up the family to inform that the Minister had agreed to meet them at 5.30 p.m. on Thursday.
Led by A.S.M. Anthony (77), the priest’s father, the family members, including his two brothers A. Albert Manoharan and A.John Joseph and two sisters A.Elizabeth Rani, Principal of Snehadeepam Matriculation School in Vellore, and Sagaya Selvi left for Delhi on Wednesday evening from Chennai.
“We are eagerly waiting to meet the Minister and hoping to receive some good news from her,” Mr. Manoharan told The Hindu .
The family was accompanied by Jesuit Fathers from Chennai.
“We reposed full faith in the government and our only plea to the Minister will be to secure the safe release of our beloved Priest at the earliest,” Mr Manoharan said.
The family members were also eager to get first hand information from the Minister on the steps taken so far by the government, he added.
Mr. Manoharan said before the spokesman from the External Affairs Minister called, an official from the office of the Tamil Nadu Commissioner of Rehabilitation had informed the family about the appointment.
They secured the appointment, thanks to The Hindu and the steps taken by the State government, MPs of Dindigul and Sivaganga Jesuit Fathers in Chennai and Delhi, he added.
The priest, working with an educational charity, was kidnapped by six Taliban militants from Herat on June 1. Since then, his whereabouts were not known, though officials from the Consul-General of India in Herat and Afghanistan had called up the family members to say that the priest was safe and efforts were being made to secure his release.
