The Congress party manages to find itself in a mess regularly these days. The recent statement of Sushma Swaraj on 39 Indians who died at the hands of ISIS should be mourned by one and all. But today, bereft of any real issues, the Congress is politicising this tragic news as well.
This is saddening for every Indian, rest I would ask why was this information delayed by the govt, they should tell how it happened, when they died. Also, the way govt gave high hopes to the families was not right: Shashi Tharoor, Congress on death of 39 Indians in Iraq’s Mosul. pic.twitter.com/dZ3EGVtwYh
— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2018
In her previous statement on a Parliament question raised on the status of these workers, she had said that she could not give any confirmation of their death without any conclusive evidence. Today, she presented the news of their death to the Parliament in her statement. The Congress was quick to accuse the government of not answering questions and raising false hopes in the kin of deceased.
The questions of the Congress is perhaps in reference to a survivor named Harjit Masih who had claimed that he had escaped from ISIS and the rest had died. Mrs Swaraj has said that the government cannot declare its citizens as dead based on an individual’s statement without evidence. Sushma Swaraj said that the person Harjit Masih had escaped from ISIS under the false identity of Bangladeshi national named Ali with the help of a caterer in her address to Rajya Sabha. Masih had told a false story to Sushma Swaraj about his escape. As a result of this, his story could not be trusted. She also clarified that the search operations of the bodies of deceased could be done only after the liberation of Mosul from ISIS.
Sushma Swaraj has come out in defence of the government’s policy in response to the malicious politicisation of the issue. She remarked that the ‘Congress has indulged in a very low level of politics’ in this issue. She went on to say that she informed the Parliament before informing victims as it was a parliamentary procedure to answer the house first. She went on to explain how the government had verified the identity of the 38 deceased through DNA tests. The test of one of the victims is ongoing, she said. 
Mrs Swaraj informed the media that the government did not hide any information from the nation and it stood by its statement that it would not declare missing persons as dead without any evidence. She added that no false hopes were given to the kin of deceased.
Earlier in the day, MoS in the External affairs ministry Gen VK Singh also spoke to the media on the issue. Gen Singh said that the government had not raised any false hope but stuck to its statement of not declaring missing Indians as dead without evidence. He said that it is the job of the opposition to take things in the wrong way and hence he would not try to comment on their remarks.
#WATCH: MoS MEA VK Singh speaks on death of 39 Indians in Mosul, says, ‘Everything takes time, Sushma Ji had stated she will not declare them dead until there is strong proof & she kept her promise, no one was misled. It is job of opposition to take everything in the wrong way.’ pic.twitter.com/QqNzYCREhR
— ANI (@ANI) March 20, 2018
It is shameless and immature of a national party that it is indulging in the politicisation of the death of Indians at the hands of terrorists on a tragic day. The Congress is now ready to believe any statement of any individual without evidence if it can serve as an ammunition to attack the government.
