Parents of Punjab youths lost abroad want PM to intervene
By IANSTuesday, January 19, 2010
CHANDIGARH - Parents of 37 Punjabi youths who went missing en route to Spain from India in 2004 Tuesday sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi to secure the release of their children.
Led by Punjab Congress legislator Sukhpal Singh Khaira, the harried parents and relatives of these youths Tuesday made the appeal during a press conference here.
“We had met Minister of State for External Affairs Preneet Kaur in New Delhi on Jan 5 in this regard and she assured us of all possible help. We have lost all our faith in the Punjab government and want our prime minister to intervene,” said Khaira.
He added, “These youths are between the age 18-25 and were promised a safe passage to Spain by unscrupulous travel agents. Their families had paid around Rs.10 lakh each to the agents but now all of them have lost contact with their children. We fear they are lodged in some jail in Morocco or in South Africa.”
Most of the families have not received any call from their children for the last four years, but one family of village Jalal Nangal in Hoshiarpur district received a call from their relative Jaswant Singh on Dec 31, 2009.
“Jaswant told me that he was lodged in a jail, but he was not sure about the country. He was very afraid and said that they were living in very inhuman conditions. Earlier, we thought he must have died but now hope has emerged in us again of seeing him,” said Sukhdev Singh, Jaswants uncle, who received the call.
I had paid Rs.10 lakh in two instalments to the travel agent to send my son Arun Kumar in Spain in 2004. Last time when I got a call from Arun, he told me that he was stranded in Mali town in Africa. For the last five years I have not received any call from him, said Mangat Singh, father of Arun.
