THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The state legislature on Wednesday unanimously condemned the killing of 39 Indians abducted four years ago by terrorists in Iraq and expressed condolence to the families of the victims.Issuing a statement on the matter in the Assembly, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan flayed the Centre’s action of disclosing details of the killings in Parliament instead of informing the victims’ relatives first. Those killed included 27 from Punjab, six from Bihar, four from Himachal Pradesh and two from West Bengal.
Pinarayi said a person who escaped from the clutches of the terrorists had earlier disclosed that the 39 Indians held captive had been killed. The Centre ignored the person’s statements and he was put behind bars on charges of spreading falsehood, Pinarayi said.
Whenever the matter came up for discussion in Parliament, the Union Government tried to hide facts. Such an action is unfortunate and can be viewed only as an inhuman, the Chief Minister said. Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said he fully backed the Chief Minister’s stand on the matter. He said the Centre had hid the fact that the captured Indians were killed, despite repeated pleas by the victims’ families to provide some information about their whereabouts.
Expressing his deepest condolences to the families of the bereaved, Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan said the heinous killing by the Islamic State had shocked the entire world. He said the incident could be seen as one of the most tragic events in recent history. The Speaker urged all MLAs to unanimously condemn the barbaric killings.