Kin of Indian sailors abducted by Somali pirates to raise $4-mn ransom
For more than seven months now, the families of 12 Indian sailors being held captive by Somali pirates have been crying themselves hoarse as they beseech an unconcerned government to help them.
But as they found the hard way, it is nigh impossible to cut through the red tape in government offices. With their loved ones still in captivity, the families have now decided to raise the $4 million (about Rs 18 crore) ransom themselves - by begging. "The government has left us with no other option," a disillusioned Sampa Arya, whose husband is one of the captives, said on Sunday.
Last March, Somali pirates hijacked the merchant vessel Iceberg in the Gulf of Aden. The ship had 24 crew members, including six Indians, on board. It is being held at Kulub in the Indian Ocean, just off the coast of Somalia.
Then in August, pirates daringly hijacked another vessel, MV Suez, with 23 crew members.
This vessel, too, had six Indians aboard. Rohtak resident Sampa, whose husband Ravinder S. Gulia is the third officer on Suez, said the aggrieved families will now seek the public's help to raise the ransom money. "Let the government say it cannot help us.
We will go to people's door for help to raise the ransom demanded by the pirates. We will appeal to the masses," she said. "What do citizens do when their government evades its responsibility to help its people?" she asked.
The pirates have demanded $ 4 million to release the hostages on Suez. The ransom demanded for Iceberg's release was not known.
Sampa was among the family members of six hostages who had gathered in Chandigarh under the aegis of the Merchant Navy Officers' Association ( MNOA) to highlight the issue.
MNOA president Ajit Singh said the plan to raise funds was the decision of individual members of the hostages' families. " The association is only supporting the demand for the release of the hostages," he said.
It has been a long and asyet- fruitless journey for the hostages' families. " We went to Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for help. But he refused. We went to meet his son, MP Deepinder Hooda, but he told us he was not the Prime Minister who could redress our grievances," Sampa said. After three months of efforts, government authorities told them " it was an international matter". " So where do we go now? We can only beg," she said.
Ambala's Shamsher Singh, the father of hostage Satnam Singh, said: " We told the government we'd raise the ransom by selling our property. Even the panchayat representatives from 24 villages to which the hostages belong had offered to collect money to save our children. They even went to the extent of asking the government to stop their grant for one year and use the money to pay the ransom. But nothing cut ice with the government." Sampa said the owners of the two vessels have also washed their hands off the issue, saying they can't cough up the ransom.
While Suez is owned by Egyptian firm Red Sea Navigation, Iceberg is owned by a Dubai- based company that is registered in Panama.
The hostages' families also claim that the pirates are torturing their captives. " My husband called up a few weeks ago. He told me that pirates were torturing them. There is hardly any food and water," Sampa said.
Amar Singh Chauhan, father of Suez's cook Parshant Chauhan, backed Sampa's claim, saying the pirates were keeping the hostages in inhuman conditions.
The families and the MNOA demanded that India suitably increase its naval strength in the area to safeguard the sea lanes and ensure smooth passage of merchant vessels.
https://www.indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/131694/india/somali-victims-families-to-raise-$4-million-by-begging.html
