Amandeep Kaur's husband Kulwinder Singh is one of the 40 workers kidnapped in Iraq.
Amandeep Kaur, a resident of Fatehgadh in Punjab's Hoshiyarpur district, has not heard from her husband Kulwinder Singh in over two weeks. (
Indian Nurses Freed from Iraq Reach Kochi)
Kulwinder is one of the 40 men from Punjab who are being held hostage by ISIS militants in Mosul in Iraq.
"Indian nurses from Iraq have come back but there is no news about our people who are being held hostage there. What is the government doing? The chief minister has not got even ten minutes for us. I have two small children, they keep on asking about their father," says Amandeep. (
How India Secured its Nurses' Release in Iraq)The distressed families have done all they could: they have even met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and sought her help.
Family members of the workers held hostage by militants in Iraq, who met Mr Badal in Hoshiyarpur on Saturday, were told that the government was putting in a lot of effort to secure the release of the 40 men. (
We Are Like Prisoners, Say Stranded Kerala Nurses in Iraq to NDTV)
Parminder Singh from Hoshiyarpur's Dasuya accuses the Parkash Singh Badal-led state government of not putting enough pressure on the Centre for the release of the Punjabi workers; his brother Kamaljit Singh is one of them.
"Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has successfully pursued the matter," points out an angry Arminder.
Mr Badal, who had met Ms Swaraj along with the families of the abducted workers, has expressed faith in the efforts launched by the government.
"I am in touch with the officer appointed by the central government in the external affairs ministry. I am coordinating with our ambassador in Baghdad. I pray that all these people come back home safely," said the Chief Minister.
The opposition has claimed that the state government has failed to pursue the matter with the central government to secure the release of the men.
"There is no word from them about what conditions they have been kept in and when they will be released,' said Deputy Leader in the Lok Sabha, Congress's Captain Amarinder Singh, while stressing upon the government the need for intensifying efforts for their release.