With the grieving families of Punjab’s “men” killed by ISIS in Iraq waiting to see them for one last time, Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has spoken to the Union Minister of State for External Affairs VK Singh to follow up on the issue of bringing back their mortal remains.
The Chief Minister, who had on Tuesday called up and also written to the External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on the issue, said that VK Singh had informed him that the remains of the deceased would take about a week to reach India.
Capt Amarinder said that since the majority of those killed were from Punjab’s Majha and Doaba regions, the coffins with the remains were likely to arrive in Amritsar.
“The State Government was making all the necessary arrangements to hand over the remains to the families for the last rites of the deceased victims,” he added.
Capt Amarinder further said that his government would try to find jobs for the kin of the deceased and would continue to pay the Rs20,000 compensation which the families were already being given.
At the same time, he threw the ball in the Centre’s court by saying that he would also pursue with the Central Government the issue of grant of compensation to the bereaved families. “I had written to Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday on the subject and hopeful of a positive response from the Central Government,” he added.
In his letter to the Union Minister, Capt Amarinder had pointed out that 24 of the deceased hailed from Punjab. While the state government had been providing a monthly assistance of Rs20,000, he said that he would be grateful if the Centre could also give them due assistance, given the special circumstances surrounding the matter.