Editorial

Deaths in Mosul

The government’s announcement(घोषणा) that the remains of 39 Indian workers, kidnapped four years ago by the Islamic State, have been found near Mosul in Iraq, has brought a painful closure(समाप्ति/अन्त) to the episode. According to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, remains found in a mass grave(जन समाधि) have been matched conclusively(अंतिम तौर से) with DNA samples for all but one of the men declared missing almost four years ago. Part of a group of construction labourers held by the IS shortly after the fall of Mosul in June 2014, they had

last contacted their families in the middle of that month and said they were being held in a basement while fighting raged outside. Since then, there was no word from them, but for the version of Harjit Masih, the 40th hostage(बंधक) who had managed to escape(सुरक्षित निकल जाना/पलायन). Mr. Masih said he was the only one to escape from being gunned(गोलियों से भून) down by the IS captors(क़ैदी बनानेवाला), and had subsequently fled with a group of Bangladeshi labourers. His account was never accepted by the government. With the recovery of the remains in Mosul after itsrecapture(पीछे हटाना/पुनः बन्दी बनाना) by Iraqi forces last year, the government must retrace(खोजना/वापस जाना) Mr. Masih’s steps in Iraq in a wider effort to end its investigations into the killings. This inquiry should also help answer larger questions about the operating procedure followed by the authorities.

On the positive side, the government followed every lead in the case, and reached out to governments in Iraq, Syria and Turkey in the effort to get any available information. However, it would have been more prudent(विवेकी/बुद्धिमान) for the authorities to be circumspect(सावधान/होशियार) instead of unnecessarily(अनावश्यक रूप से) talking up the chances of finding the men alive. At various points, the government told the families that the men had been seen at a construction site, at a church in Mosul, and even that they were being kept in a prison in Badush, a village on the edge the city of Mosul. Subsequent(बाद की/आगामी ) investigations, including visits by Minister of State for External Affairs V.K. Singh, revealed those leads to be wrong. It turned out, for instance(अनुरोध/उदाहरण), that the prison(क़ैदख़ाना) in Badush had been destroyed by the IS early during its occupation(क़ब्ज़ा/व्यवसाय), something that should have been verified before such information was disseminated(फैलाया/प्रचारित किया हुआ) to distraught(परेशान/घबड़ाया हुआ) family members. On receiving word that the Martyrs Foundation, an Iraqi agency that helped identify the remains, would announce that they had matched the DNA of the 39 men, the Ministry of External Affairs could have shown more sensitivity by informing the families before Ms. Swaraj made the rushed(जल्दी करना) announcement in Parliament. The biggest lesson from the tragic saga(दुखद गाथा) is the need for a thorough appraisal of procedures for Indian labour going abroad(विदेश में,), so that they are not duped or remain uninformed about the risks of going to conflict(संघर्ष) areas.

Important Vocabulary

1.Disseminated(फैलाया/प्रचारित किया हुआ)
Synonyms: advertise, circulate, disperse, propagate, publicize
Antonyms: conceal, hide, collect, gather

2.Escape(सुरक्षित निकल जाना
Synonyms: breakout, departure, desertion, disappearance, flight
Antonyms: arrival, coming, entrance, stay, staying

3.Retrace(खोजना/
Synonyms: backtrack, perseverate, recall, recollect, reiterate
Antonyms: forget

4.Circumspect(सावधान/होशियार)
Synonyms: cagey, careful, considerate, discriminating, judicious
Antonyms: careless, foolish, inattentive, incautious, indiscreet

5.Distraught(परेशान/घबड़ाया हुआ
Synonyms: agitated, anxious, concerned, confused, crazy
Antonyms: balanced, calm, collected, composed, cool

6.Rushed(जल्दी करना)
Synonyms: pressed, driven, pressured

7.Prison(क़ैदख़ाना)
Synonyms: confinement, jail, lockup, penitentiary, bastille

8.Prudent(विवेकी/बुद्धिमान
Synonyms: careful, cautious, discreet, economical, frugal
Antonyms: careless, expensive, foolish, hasty, inattentive

9.Captors(क़ैदी बनानेवाला)
Synonyms: detainer, holder, impounder, imprisoner, incarcerator
Antonyms: deliverer, discharger, emancipator, liberator, releaser

10.Occupation(क़ब्ज़ा/व्यवसाय)
Synonyms: activity, affair, calling, craft, do
Antonyms: avocation, entertainment, fun, pastime, recreation