Why government didn't accept earlier that all were dead: Mosul survivor
Chandigarh: The lone Indian who managed to escape from the Islamic State in Iraq's Mosul in 2014 on Tuesday reiterated that all the 39 Indians who were seized were killed long ago and wondered why the government didn't believe him all these years.
"I had spoken the truth," survivor Harjit Masih said.
His assertions came after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told Parliament that the bodies of the 39 Indians were spotted using deep penetration radar. These were exhumed from mass graves and their identities were confirmed by DNA tests.
"I had been saying for the past three years that all 39 Indians had been killed by ISIS militants," Masih, a resident of a village in Gurdaspur district, told reporters.
He said they all were killed in front of his eyes. "I am wondering why the government was not accepting what I had said earlier."
However, Sushma Swaraj dismissed his claims during her statement in the Rajya Sabha. "He was not willing to tell me how he escaped," she said.
Narrating the incident, Masih, 28, said the Indians were kidnapped by the militants and they were kept hostage. After some days, the militants indiscriminately fired at them.
"I was fortunate to manage to escape from the clutches of the militants despite getting a bullet injury," he said.
The 39 who went missing in Iraq were all from poor families, mostly from rural areas of Punjab.
Their families were asked in October last year to provide their DNA samples.
Sushma Swaraj had earlier assured the families, who met her several times, that all efforts were being made to trace the missing men.
But the minister maintained all these years that there was no information confirming that the Indians were dead.
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Vinod Tawde seeks apology from Kharge, Rahul through legal notice, warns of defamation lawsuit
Cash-for-vote row
New Delhi, Nov 22: BJP leader Vinod Tawde has demanded an apology from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for making "false and baseless" allegations against him in the cash-for-votes incident in Maharashtra, saying if they don't he would sue them for defamation.
Tawde was accused by Bahujan Vikas Aghadi, a regional party, of distributing Rs 5 crore to woo voters, with its members barging into a hotel room on November 19 in a Mumbai suburb, where the BJP leader was present.
The former Maharashtra minister and BJP national general secretary claimed innocence, saying the alleged amount was not recovered in the probe by the Election Commission and police.
"The Congress only believes in spreading lies, and this incident is a proof of the party's low level politics to dent me and my party's image," Tawde said.
The two Congress leaders and the party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate seized on the row to accuse the BJP of using money power to influence the November 20 assembly polls in the state.
The legal notice sent to the three claimed that they were aware that they were pushing a "totally false story fabricated" by them.
"You all have deliberately, mischievously with the sole intention of damaging the reputation of our client intentionally fabricated the story distribution of money. You all have published false, baseless allegations against our client on various media for tarnishing his image in the eyes of right thinking people in the society," the notice read.
The Congress leaders were in a "great hurry" to damage Tawde's reputation, they did not bother to check the fact and or despite knowing the entire fact they made the false, baseless allegations, it said.
"The entire imputation made by you all are totally false, baseless, malicious and mala fide and as our client is in no way involved in any such illegal activity and as a responsible office bearer of the national political party he is aware of his duties," it added.
The notice demanded an "unconditional apology" to Tawde within 24 hours from the time the receipt of the notice, which was sent on November 21, and published in newspapers and X.
If they do not offer apology, then Tawde will initiate criminal proceedings under Section 356, which covers defamation, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and also civil proceedings for the damages of Rs 100 crore against the three Congress leaders, the notice said.
