Masih said they were killed in front of my eyes and I had been saying all these years, wondering why the government was not accepting what he had said earlier.
"I am not giving false assurance. If I had confirmation that they were killed, then definitely, I would have sought apology from their families the with folded hands and said they were killed. Their killing in such a situation in Mosul in Iraq would not have been blamed on me.
'Not just the angry families, but also the public will remember Swaraj's foreign ministership for this colossal lapse of judgment,' notes Karan Thapar.
Congress MPs Ambika Soni, Pratap Bajwa and Shamsher Singh Dullo said they would move a motion against Swaraj in the Upper House after compiling documents and information on the issue.
She said no government can declare anyone dead without proof and her government does not believe in the theory of 'missing, believed to be killed'.
Several relatives of the killed workers said they were not officially informed about their loved ones by any government authority.
In a forceful statement in the Lok Sabha, Swaraj rejected allegations that she misled the country.
The external affairs minister said that the dreaded terror outfit Islamic State had killed all the Indian nationals.
"Everyone knows me because of that terrible tragedy. My memories of Mosul only bring me sadness. How can I be proud about my fame? I lost everything there," Harjit Masih told Rediff.com's Swarupa Dutt over the phone.
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