Families fight despair, Virbhadra offers hope

8216;8216;Please get them back,8217;8217; pleaded the families of Antaryami and Tilak Raj when Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra...

8216;8216;Please get them back,8217;8217; pleaded the families of Antaryami and Tilak Raj when Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh paid them a visit today. The CM, who announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh each for the two families, assured them that the state government was doing its best to get the three hostages freed.

Down in the dumps after the fleeting high they had experienced yesterday following a news flash that the hostages had been freed, the two families today derived some comfort from the CM8217;s presence. Without divulging any details, he merely said the very fact that the captors had extended the deadline showed that the talks were on track.

With hands folded, Antaryami8217;s father Ram Murthy mumbled: 8216;8216;Please get them back. We will not send them to any foreign land again.8217;8217;

It was around 2.15 pm when the CM reached Dehlan where an anxious Ram Murthy tried to prise out every little detail about Antaryami from him.

Later, the CM visited Tilak Raj8217;s wife Promilla Devi at the Una Civil Hospital. 8216;8216;Please give my husband a government job,8217;8217; she pleaded with Virbhadra Singh who replied: 8216;8216;Rihai hone do, phir dekhenge let him be freed first, then we8217;ll see8217;8217;.

Taking a swipe at the BJP, the CM said, 8216;8216;yeh jo BJPwale hain na, yeh aap ke pati ki rihai se khush nahin honge, Congress sarkarein unki rihai ke liye puri koshish kar rahi hai BJP men will not be happy to see your husband released, the Congress government is trying its best to get him freed.8217;8217;

At Makraunda Kalan in Ropar, it proved to be yet another long day for Sukhdev8217;s family. 8216;8216;There is no news at all. We are anxiously waiting for a phone call from the Centre which would tell us with certainty that Sukhdev has been freed from the clutches of the abductors in Iraq. We don8217;t know how long we have to wait for that. Why is God testing our patience?8217;8217; said Sukhdev8217;s elder brother, Harvinder.

Story continues below this ad

The family received a phone call from Dr Ashok Amrohi in the Ministry of External Affairs this afternoon who reassured them yet again that the talks were progressing in the right direction.

8216;8216;Though it does feel nice to be told that the talks are going well, we cannot be at peace till we see Sukhdev being released from captivity on TV. My parents, who had seen a flicker of hope for a brief while last evening, are back in the dumps now. And I fear for the failing health of my mother,8217;8217; Harvinder said.