NEW DELHI, June 21:
Amnesty International India today claimed that fresh evidence has emerged about hundreds of Indians stranded in Najaf province of crisis-hit Iraq.
The human rights watchdog claimed it had spoken over the phone with some Indian workers working for an infrastructure and construction company who said they were in danger as their employers had “refused to return their passports”, thus rendering them unable to leave the Gulf country.
“Evidence has emerged which suggests that several hundred Indian nationals may be stranded in Najaf province of Iraq, unable to return home because their employer refuses to return their passports,” Amnesty International India said in a press statement.
Amnesty International India claimed that some of the Indians stranded in Najaf province were “awaiting a response from the Indian Embassy in Baghdad” after they texted their passport details to them on June 19.
“The employer holds all our passports and refuses to return them. We have been restricting ourselves to the company premises since the conflict began as we are scared. We just want to go home,” one of the workers reportedly told Amnesty International India.
Despite its repeated attempts to contact the three managers of the company over the phone, Amnesty International India said it could not get any response.
The government had yesterday said that 16 Indians stranded in the violence-hit areas of Iraq have been evacuated. Also, of the 40 Indian workers being held in captivity in Mosul town, one has managed to escape, the government had added. There are also reports of 46 nurses trapped in Tikrit.
Amnesty International India has meanwhile urged the government to pay “special” attention to ensuring the return of these Indians whose passports have been seized.
It also called upon militant outfit Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and other armed groups to “immediately and unconditionally” release all unarmed civilians whom they are holding hostage.
The organisation has also urged the Kurdistan Regional Government and officials in countries bordering Iraq to provide refuge to civilians fleeing the fighting. (PTI)

NEW DELHI, June 21:
A decision on change of guard in Assam, Maharashtra and Haryana is expected soon with Congress leadership today holding parleys with Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Haryana as the party prepares for a massive organisational rejig.
The humiliating defeat suffered by the party in Lok Sabha polls, where it could get only 44 seats in the 543-member Lower House, has prompted the exercise. While Assembly polls in Maharashtra and Haryana are scheduled this year end, the party is grappling with dissidence in Assam.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had a 30-minute meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi. His Maharashtra counterpart Prithviraj Chavan met party veteran A K Antony and Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel.
While sources close to Hooda declined the suggestions that he could be replaced, the activities on Maharastra front gained momentum today.
Two Maharashtra leaders Shivajrao Deshmukh and Shivajirao Moghe met the Congress President at her 10 Janpath residence here. Moghe later also met Antony.
Deshmukh, who is the Chairman of Maharashtra Legislative Council, is a four-time MLA and has been MLC twice. Moghe is currently the Minister of Social Justice in Maharashtra Cabinet.
The talk about a change of guard in Maharashtra gained currency after Antony and Patel met NCP chief Sharad Pawar at his residence on Thursday night, where the issue was discussed threadbare.
Party sources have maintained that in case a final decision to replace Chavan is taken, party veterans A K Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad could go to Maharashtra as observers. Antony was also the AICC in-charge of Maharashtra some time back.
Congress could win only two and it ally NCP just four of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra this time.
While NCP is said to be reportedly more amenable to senior Congress leader Sushilkumar Shinde’s name as next Maharashtra Chief Minister, a Congress functionary said that it’s a decision that Congress has to take and the NCP chief has not insisted on any name in the meeting.
Besides Shinde, the names of state Ministers Bala Saheb Thorat and Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil are doing the rounds as successor to incumbent Prithviraj Chavan.
While Assembly elections in Assam are scheduled in 2016, the term of Haryana Assembly expires in October and that of Maharashtra in December this year.
Congress leadership has been under pressure to replace Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi for a long time as rebellion has mounted in the state unit, more so after the poor show of Congress in the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress had managed to win only three of the 14 seats in Assam which was much below the party’s expectations.
Since there are no early elections in Assam, the leadership views that if a change has to take place, it should be done now so that there is enough time for the new leadership in the state to prepare and perform in the Assembly elections.
However, the central leadership of the Congress is keen that any change of guard in the state should be done in an amicable manner. Gogoi had been in touch with the central leadership in the last few days.     The party is likely to send some senior leaders as observers in the state before a final decision is taken.
Senior Minister from Assam Himanta Biswa Sarma was also likely to meet top Congress leadership, party leaders said.
They said Assam could be the first state where a change of guard can take place followed by Maharashtra.
However, a decision in the case Haryana could be difficult as the state is going to elections later this year and a section feels that time is short, they said, pointing to the ‘TINA’ (there is no alternative) factor.
Sources close to Hooda termed it as a “routine meeting”. They said there was no talk about change of leadership in the state.
AICC general secretary incharge for Haryana Shakeel Ahmed told PTI, “Change of leadership either at PCC level or CLP level is not under consideration”.
In Haryana, the party could win only one of the ten Lok Sabha seats. The Chief Minister’s son Deepinder Hooda was the sole Congress candidate to win a Lok Sabha seat from the state.
There were voices against the style of functioning of Hooda in the Haryana unit of the Congress with former Union Minister Kumari Selja saying that the Chief Minister should have at least offered to resign following the party’s poor show in the Lok Sabha polls.
The party also plans to replace PCC chiefs in ten states including Uttar Pradesh.
“A decision on changes of Chief Ministers in these states will be taken shortly and the first decision could be made as early as next week,” the leader said.
At a meeting of the Congress Working Committee last month, the party had authorised Sonia Gandhi to effect the necessary organisational changes.
The sources that former Chief Minister Ashok Chavan is among one of the contenders for the PCC chief in Maharashtra.
The major shakeup is expected to give a new look to the party in the states besides acting as a buffer against the anti-incumbency factor in these states. It is also expected to bring a semblance of unity in the faction ridden state units.
Congress is, however, treading cautiously in deciding their successors.
“We are looking for change of Chief Ministers in three states. But it is not necessary that we change all the three. At this stage, there is no finality,” a leader had earlier said.
The party is also mulling a shake-up in its units 8 to 10 states including Uttar Pradesh, where the PCC chief can be replaced. (PTI)