Fearing the worst for their loved ones, the families of Indian sailors being held hostage by Somali pirates after they commandeered the cargo vessels MV Suez and MV Iceberg in August 2010, have accused Indian authorities of apathy and lacking the will to act.
Citing earlier examples where the government acted swiftly for the release of former Union minister Mufti Mohammad’s daughter Rubaiya and the more recent instance where massive efforts were initiated to ensure the safe return of the Malkangiri (Orissa) collector, Ms Sampa Arya, whose husband Ravinder Gulia is among the six hostages said, “We are common people. The government initiates action only when some politician’s daughter or an official is kept hostage.”
Addressing a press conference hosted by the Merchant Navy Officers’ Association in Chandigarh, Ms Arya was frequently driven to tears as she described her “harrowing” experiences of engaging with politicians and bureaucrats in what has been a “futile” campaign to secure the release and return of her husband and his colleagues. Being a resident of the Haryana chief minister’s own constituency, Rohtak, Ms Arya said she had sought help from the CM “but he could not help us. We then met Rohtak MP Deepinder Hooda who told us he was not the Prime Minister who could redress our problems.”
She said after years of being literally led from pillar to post the authorities in Delhi too have pleaded helplessness saying “this is an international matter.”
“My husband had called up few weeks ago. He told me that pirates were torturing them. There is hardly any food and water,” she said. Third officer Gulia and five Indian sailors along with four Pakistanis, four Sri Lankans and 11 Egyptians in the MV Suez’s crew.
Mr Amar Chauhan whose young son Prashant is the chef onboard MV Suez said the pirates were without mercy and were holding the hostages in inhuman conditions. “We as Indians must be equipped to protect our ships and the men who sail these,” he said.