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they are dead.� He agreed. After 10 days he called back, asking for a job. There was no answer. It was then that he decided to go to the media. Suddenly, Ved Sharma called back. He told him to go to Dharamsala. So he went with Robin and a man came to collect them. He dropped them off at a hotel and promised to return but never did. A few days later, Masih returned home. On the advice of a panchayat member, he decided to hold a press conference. The following day, he publicly said 39 Indians had been massacred in Mosul on June 15, 2014. Harjit Masih is a reviled figure among Gurdaspur families who have made
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nine trips to New Delhi to meet Sushma Swaraj. Each time they are told the workers are alive and that a search is underway. But an MEA source said there was no proof of life though the government had requested it. Further, the source said that short of digging around Mosul, there was no way to ascertain whether they were dead or alive. The claim that they were working as unpaid labourers to build a mosque or a stadium remains unverified. (Names of people spoken to in Iraq have been changed to protect their identities. Mosul continues to be under the control of ISIS, and the sources interviewed for this story have reason to fear reprisals.)
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A man’s best friend
The government’s canine force and their handlers at the National Training Centre for Dogs. by sharbendu de
August | 2015
August | 2015