Chandigarh, August 12
A day after the news report on “Chandigarh travel agents under lens for dumping youths in Iraq” appeared in these columns, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Centre and its departments to take notice of the events and act promptly to prevent loss of life.
The Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh asserted: “Keeping in view the facts and circumstances and the plight of these 40 young persons, we direct the respondents to take notice of these events and act promptly before there is any loss to life.”
The directions came after the clippings of The Tribune report were placed before the Bench of amicus curiae Anil Malhotra. The Bench observed the application brings to the notice of the court the case of about 40 youths from the State of Punjab lured to go to foreign country. They were ultimately sent to Iraq by unscrupulous agents with the promise of jobs. Allured by the promise of jobs, they landed in Iraq and appear to have been apprehended by the local police there. According to reports, they have now been sent to Najaf, about 160 km from Bagdad, and have been forced to clear battlefields strewn with used missiles, bomb shells and rocket launchers as Iraq has been confronted with a grim type of violence in the recent times.
“According to the averment made in the application, these young persons belong to the area of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala. Malhotra has also brought on record the provisions of Passport Act, 1967 and a pointed reference has been made to the Passports Rules, 1980, to state how Emergency Certificate could be granted to a person who is citizen of India abroad and how he could be brought back to his country…,” the Bench added while issuing a notice.
NEW DELHI: Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa raised the matter in the Lok Sabha and sought a response from the Ministry of External Affairs. “At least 1,500 youth are affected. We wonder what the MEA is doing when such unscrupulous elements are duping our youth. We seek a statement from the Minister on the floor of the House,” Bajwa said, adding that such cases were increasing by the day.
A day after the news report on “Chandigarh travel agents under lens for dumping youths in Iraq” appeared in these columns, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the Centre and its departments to take notice of the events and act promptly to prevent loss of life.
The Bench of Justice MM Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh asserted: “Keeping in view the facts and circumstances and the plight of these 40 young persons, we direct the respondents to take notice of these events and act promptly before there is any loss to life.”
The directions came after the clippings of The Tribune report were placed before the Bench of amicus curiae Anil Malhotra. The Bench observed the application brings to the notice of the court the case of about 40 youths from the State of Punjab lured to go to foreign country. They were ultimately sent to Iraq by unscrupulous agents with the promise of jobs. Allured by the promise of jobs, they landed in Iraq and appear to have been apprehended by the local police there. According to reports, they have now been sent to Najaf, about 160 km from Bagdad, and have been forced to clear battlefields strewn with used missiles, bomb shells and rocket launchers as Iraq has been confronted with a grim type of violence in the recent times.
“According to the averment made in the application, these young persons belong to the area of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala. Malhotra has also brought on record the provisions of Passport Act, 1967 and a pointed reference has been made to the Passports Rules, 1980, to state how Emergency Certificate could be granted to a person who is citizen of India abroad and how he could be brought back to his country…,” the Bench added while issuing a notice.
NEW DELHI: Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa raised the matter in the Lok Sabha and sought a response from the Ministry of External Affairs. “At least 1,500 youth are affected. We wonder what the MEA is doing when such unscrupulous elements are duping our youth. We seek a statement from the Minister on the floor of the House,” Bajwa said, adding that such cases were increasing by the day.
As its very much clear that those innocent duped youths are from Punjab region. We all are wonder what Punjab Government is waiting for to curb these unscrupulous agents, ruining the youths of Punjab.
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