Jupinderjit Singh/ Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service
Indians in Karbala safe
Official sources have denied that intense fighting was on between Sunni rebels and government forces in Karbala and many Indians have been caught in the crossfire.
Chandigarh/Jalandhar, June 20
Hope and despair are making days longer than they expect as fighting between the militants and the Iraq army continues.
Contacted over the phone, many youths from the region told The Tribune of graphic images of the gun-wielding militants and army movement and shared their restlessness to return home.
Several Indians living in the peaceful region say they will not return without receiving their monthly wages. Some youths in Karbala and Najaf areas, employed with construction companies, say their employers have fled. Some of the employers reportedly keep a part of the wages as security and if the employees return home, they will lose that amount.
Youths in Baghdad say they are safe, but their employer - AKG Construction Company wants them to stay put. Showcasing Punjabi resilience, Inderjit Kaur of Khatkar Kalan, the native village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, said her 21-year-old son Gaurav is an electrician with AKG Company in Baghdad and he has refused to return home. "He is brave and has asked me not to worry. The company officials don't want them to leave. They are staying on the premises of the company which is heavily guarded."
The Indian government has said that Karbala and Najaf areas were safe, but telephonic conversation with the stranded persons there reveals a different picture.
Around 450 youths from Punjab are reportedly trapped in the Najaf city of Iraq as their company INTECH was allegedly demanding 350 dollars from each to return their passports. The company has hired them to construct a government hospital in the city. Najf is 450 km from Mosul.
"We are held captive here. The company officials have kept our passports. They have held back our two-month salary and are not allowing us to go out of the construction site. After the Mosul conflict, we asked them to return our passports as most of us wanted to go back to India. But they demanded $350 from each one of us," said Sandeep Lal of Jalandhar over phone from Najaf.
He said the company had withdrawn the Wi-Fi services from the site's office two days ago and now the Indians are left with no option but to get their mobile phones recharged with the help of the local Iraqi residents living near the construction site.
315 from Punjab, Haryana, HP stuck
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service
State-wise break-up
The Punjab Government on Friday submitted a report of 201 Punjabis stuck in Iraq to the External Affairs Ministry
With more cases of those from Haryana stranded in Iraq being reported, the number swelled to 92
Reports from Himachal Pradesh said about 25 persons, mainly from the Kangra and Mandi region, were stranded in Iraq
Chandigarh, June 20
As many as 315 persons from Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh are listed as stranded in the trouble-torn Iraq. Control rooms set up by the three state governments have recorded this number till evening.
The Punjab Government today submitted a detailed report of 201 Punjabis stuck in Iraq to the External Affairs Ministry. Ten Punjabis from Iraq also rang up today at the control room and gave details about their locations.
With more cases of those from Haryana stranded in Iraq being reported during the day, the number swelled to 92. The cases were reported at the control room set up by Haryana at the secretariat.
Reports from Hiamchal Pardesh said about 25 persons, mainly from the Kangra and Mandi region, were stranded in Iraq.
There is no report of loss of life of any Indian citizen so far. Phone numbers of most of the stranded youths were working and they were able to speak to their relatives back home. Country-wide figures from New Delhi state that about 10,000 Indians were there in Iraq. Out of these, 120 were said to be in the conflict zone and 18 among them were missing.
Tota Singh, Punjab NRI Affairs Minister, said that Punjabis in Iraq were safe but the Central Government should arrange for their safe exit as soon as possible because conditions in Iraq were worsening by the day.
The minister said that Punjabis who contacted control room from Iraq informed that they were safe but wanted to return to India.
The latest figures say that 22 persons were from Gurdaspur, seven from Nawanshahr, 29 from Jalandhar, six from Patiala, 13 from Hoshiarpur, 28 from Kapurthala, nine from Ludhiana, three from Barnala, 34 from Ropar, five from Pathankot, 12 from
Fatehgarh Sahib, 23 from Amritsar, five from SAS Nagar and one each from Bathinda, Moga and Tarn Taran district were in Iraq.
According to information received at the control room, 24 residents from Yamunanagar, 20 from Ambala, 23 from Kurukshetra, 17 from Karnal, four from Kaithal and one each from Bhiwani, Mahendergarh, Sirsa and Rohtak are among the Indians working in Iraq. Similarly, other families, too, are awaiting news of their kin.
Director General, Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs Haryana, Sudhir Rajpal, said if required, the state government would bear the expenditure of bringing the people of Haryana back to India.
He said the state government had so far had not got any information from the Union Ministry of External Affairs regarding any person of Haryana among the Indians in custody of militants.
(With inputs from Geetanjali Gayatri and Pratibha Chauhan)
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