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Families of Indians killed in Iraq to hold a protest in Delhi over compensation demand

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Mar 23, 2018, 06:00 PM IST
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Manjinder Singh was among 39 Indians killed in Iraq by the Islamic State. Photograph:(ANI)

The kin of Indians who died in Iraq are demanding a compensation for the families as they announced that they would hold a peaceful protest at Jantar Mantar from Saturday.

The Brother-in-law of one of the Indian killed in Iraq said that "we've given govt time till tomorrow morning to announce a compensation to secure future of families of deceased. If they aren't able to do it then we'll protest at Jantar Mantar tomorrow."

Sister of Manjinder Singh, Gurpidner Kaur also claimed that the government is not responding to the demands even External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has not replied to the 'repeated attempts of contact.'

 "We won't do a violent protest, we'll just sit peacefully. Union govt hasn't contacted us yet. EAM Sushma Swaraj has not replied to us even after repeated attempts to contact and meet her: Gurpinder Kaur, sister of Manjinder Singh who was among 39 Indians killed in Iraq," she said.

Sushma Swaraj informed Rajya Sabha on Tuesday about the 39 kidnapped Indians who had gone missing since 2014 in Iraq are dead. Most of them were from Punjab.

All of them were shot in the head.The bodies have also been recovered from a mound in Badush village near Mosul. 

The 39 Indians were kidnapped in 2014. On Wednesday Swaraj said they had been killed by the Islamic State. 

Minister of State for External Affairs General (retd) VK Singh has flown to Mosul to bring back the bodies. 

The government has come under much flak for its handling of the case. The families of the 39 killed have said they heard about the deaths when Swaraj made her speech in Parliament, and that they were not told beforehand. 

The opposition meanwhile has said the government knew about the deaths beforehand but had been misleading the public.