39 Indians killed by ISIS in Iraq: Here's how Twitterati reacted on the loss

As External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj informed the Rajya Sabha that the 39 missing Indians who were abducted by terrorist outfits Islamic State have been killed, Twitterati went mourning over the ‘heart-wrenching’ loss. Most of them expressed their sadness and some of them even questioned the government for holding up the information for so much times.

Forty Indians were abducted by the IS in 2014 but the government informed about the killing in 2018.

Expressing sadness over the deaths, former Union Minister and senior Congress leader Sashi Tharoor tweeted “Sad news of the confirmation of the deaths of 39 Indians in Iraq. Thoughts & prayers are w/their families. But why did the Govt give false hope to the nation for three and a half years that the people were still alive? That was disappointing behavior”.

Claiming that those killed in Iraq were from Punjab, Chief Minister of Punjab Amarinder Singh tweeted “shattered at the heart-wrenching news from @SushmaSwaraj that the 39 Indians missing in Iraq, most of whom were Punjabis, are dead. My heart goes out to the families who had been living in hope since their reported abduction by ISIS in 2014. Prayers with all of them”.

Calling for retaliation against ISIS, Rajya Sabha member and BJP leader Subramanian Swamy tweeted “the killing in cold blood by ISIS of 39 Indians in Iraq requires the Indian State's retaliation against ISIS. For this we need an anti terror compact of India, Israel, and US to search and destroy ISIS wherever they are located”.

Expressing condolences to the families who lost someone in the killings, Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted “I’m shocked to hear that 39 Indians who were in captivity since 2014, in Iraq, are now confirmed dead. My deepest condolences to the families of those who have lived in hope, that their loved ones will return unharmed. My thoughts and prayers are with all of you today”.

Sharing a piece of news that the Government did not inform the family who lost their kin, Author and Coulamnist Anand Ranganathan tweeted “The govt made the distraught families undergo DNA test, but didn't have the courtesy to inform them of the death of the 39 Indians before making the news public. This is truly insensitive and unpardonable. Lost for words”.