It recently emerged that the 39 Indian workers who were captured by the ISIS in Mosul in 2014 were all killed.
Considering the long and agonising wait that the concerned families endured, the government could’ve shown more empathy in communicating the news.
How did the events unfold?
A cohort of 40 Indian construction were captured by the ISIS, when they Mosul in 2014 shortly before declaring their caliphate.
While 1 Indian captive had escaped and sneaked out along with Bangladeshi workers and has returned home safe, the status of the rest was ambiguous.
Intermittent statements from the government that assured that they were alive and stashed in underground bunkers gave families lingering hopes.
Additionally, other incidences of captives being rescued by Indian government interventions in Yemen and Afghanistan furthered optimism.
But while Mosul was liberated from the ISIS by the Iraqi government forces a few months ago, there was no word on the missing workers.
Recently, dashing all hopes, external affairs Minister Ms. Sushma Swaraj had declared in the parliament that all the 39 workers have been killed in captivity.
What are the problems in the government handled the crisis?
Indian government appears to have tried its very best to secure the resue of its citizens, but did a pathetic job in communicating with the beraved families.
Unstantiated statements that conveyed hope were being flung liberally, with Ms. Swaraj herself confirming 6 times that they were very much alive.
While it would be morally reprehensive to declare someone death without ascertaining, comfirming that they were alive without proof wasn’t right.
Rather, stating that they were missing and that the government was doing its best to rescue them would’ve been more appropriate and sensitive.
More shockingly the families seemed to have heard the news of their loss through television channels rather than by an official communication.
This is against the protocol and also disregards humanitarian concerns, which potrays arrogance on the part of the government.
What is the way forward?
While loss is indeed incompensable, the government should take adequate measures to support the bereaved families in all possible ways.
The economic realities of labour migration coupled with the conflict in West Asia means that Indian citizens could be in danger again.
This episode has valuable lessons for the government to learn in order to better handle sensitive security situation in future.
