The caskets carrying the mortal remains had reached the state on Monday from Amritsar airport.(Express Photo/Rana Simranjit Singh)
The mortal remains of all four youths from the state who were killed in Iraq were consigned to flames Tuesday in the presence of local officials. Villagers thronged to cremation grounds for the last rites of three youths from Kangra district and one from Mandi district after their remains were handed over to their respective families.
The caskets carrying the mortal remains had reached the state on Monday from Amritsar airport. In case of Sandeep Kumar of village Dhameta, the remains were kept at Nurpur hospital, while other three caskets were kept at Dr Rajendra Prasad Medical college Tanda (Kangra).
Dilawar Singh (76), father of Sandeep Kumar, said: “For four years, I have been praying to God to send my son back safe. My daughter -in-law Chandresh Kumari approached everyone to get a job in order to feed small children. Now, all our hopes have ended. My age doesn’t allow me earn a livelihood and feed the family unless she (Sandeep’s wife) gets a job.”
In Mandi’s village Bayala, the remains of Hemraj were consigned to flames by his eight-year-old son. Hemaraj’s wife, Nirmla Devi, too has demanded a government job to feed the family and the couple’s two kids.
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There were 13 youths from Doaba including 7 from Jalandhar, two each from Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala and Nawanshahr districts. While two from Kapurthala were cremated Monday evening, 10 were cremated Tuesday.
One deceased, Gurdeep Singh, from Jaidpur village of Hoshiarpur district will be cremated Wednesday as the family had requested the district administration to postpone it as the younger brother of the deceased is on his way to Punjab from the Middle-East.
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Aged parents of Aman Kumar recalled how their son, all of 26 then, left defying their suggestion to look for a local job. “The ISIS militants are not human being. They kill human beings like animals without the slightest remorse. One could not have expected any mercy from them,” said his ex-serviceman father, Ramesh Chand, at village Passu.
Aman’s brother, Raman Kumar, alleged that a travel agent in Chandigarh, who had charged all the persons for more than Rs 1.25 lakh to send them to Iraq must be booked and prosecuted for sending them to Iraq illegally and not following proper procedure.
In Lunj, the family of Inderjeet also accused the travel agent of pushing his son into a situation that cost him his life.
His father Pardesi Ram said: “My son never wanted to go to Iraq but the agent told him that he will not return Rs 1.30 lakh, if he turns down the offer. Inderjeet told me over phone about being forced to take a flight to Iraq and not Saudi Arabia where he had actually applied.”
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur said the state government had given a relief of Rs four lakh each to kin of all victims. “We will try to provide full help to the families,” he added.