CM Pinarayi slams Centre for hiding facts about killing of Indians

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said it was "inhuman" that the BJP-led NDA government hid from the nation the facts about the killing of 39 Indians by ISIS at Mosul in Iraq.

Making a statement in this regard in the Assembly, Pinarayi alleged that the Centre always attempted to hide the facts from Parliament whenever the matter was raised and it was unfortunate. "This can only be seen as an inhuman action on the part of the government," the CM said.

The House unanimously condemned the killing of the 39 Indians, who hailed from Punjab, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal.

They were abducted from Mosul in Iraq in 2014 were killed by Islamic State terrorists and buried in a mass grave. The House expressed deepest condolences to their families.

Referring to the statement of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj in Parliament on Tuesday, Pinarayi said when such painful incidents occur, relatives should be informed first. "But in this case, the government took a different stand and informed Parliament first," the CM said.

Swaraj had told the Rajya Sabha  that the 39 Indians were dead and their bodies had been recovered. Pinarayi said the government also ignored the statement of Harjit Singh Massi, the lonewitness to the killing, who had managed to escape and reach India.

The Centre not only "ignored" his version all these years, but also maintained that he was lying and put him behind bars in a false case, Pinarayi alleged.

(With PTI inputs)