Distraught families of hijacked MV Iceberg to raise funds?
The government's lackadaisical attitude towards raising an amount of $ 2.5 million has pushed the families to help the captive sailors on the MV Iceberg to do the same.
MV Iceberg was captured by the pirates in Yemen at the port of Aden on Mar 29, 2010.
"We
can
no
longer
trust
the
government
because
it
has
failed
to
keep
its
promises.
We
request
the
business
fraternity
and
Bollywood
to
help
us
in
raising
funds
for
the
release
of
our
sons.
They
have
helped
needy
families
in
the
past
and
we
hope
that
they
will
help
us
too.
We
will
take
to
the
roads
to
draw
people's
attention
if
need
be,"
said
Chief
officer-in-command
of
MV
Iceberg
-
I,
Dheeraj's
father,
Purshottam
Tiwari.
"We
have
spoken
to
those
mediating
between
us
and
the
pirates.
They
always
ask
about
the
ransom
money
whether
we
have
arranged
for
it
or
we
need
more
time
some
more
time.
At
the
same
time,
we
have
also
spoken
to
our
sons
through
the
mediators,
who
have
repeated
the
pirates' demands.
Hence,
it
is
amply
clear
that
all
the
pirates
need
is
money.
It
is
very
unfortunate,
however,
that
the
governments
at
the
state
and
Centre
have
failed
to
help
us,
both
directly
and
indirectly,"
he
added.
Ansar Burney, Pakistani Human Rights Activist had played a vital role in the release of MV Suez crew who were captured by Somali pirates and later released after paying a huge ransom of $ 2 million.
"We have to take the same approach. We will approach Burney and see if he is willing to help us in negotiations like he had for the families of M V Suez. We hope he will agree," said sailor Ganesh's father, Mansingh Mohite.
"Our children are very low profile as compared to captives in other cases. Had it been a plane hijack, the government would have done anything to ensure the captives' release," said Tiwari blaming the government for not helping the needy.
"The hijack of IC-814 by a Pakistan-based terror organisation is one such example where the government released hardcore terrorists and doled out money to send negotiators to help with the passengers' release," he added.
The families have tried their hands at getting help from the Prime Minister, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, the Director General (Shipping) and even Baba Ramdev, but all their efforts have gone in vain. The families also held a protest near Jantar Mantar with Sushma Swaraj.
OneIndia News