Rescue Bid if West Agrees

(Originally appeared in the 1990s in the Times of India, as published in M. D. Nalapat's book "Indutva", Har-Anand Publications, 1999) 

National Security Guard commandos are on stand-by in Kashmir

ready to go into action in an effort to free the four surviving

Western hostages. However, the government of India is waiting

for a "go-ahead" from the United States, Britain and Germany,

before launching the operation. A high level source connected

with the effort to get the hostages released said that "our priority

is not to score political points, but to get the hostages released.

For this we are following a policy of wide consultations with the

Western countries involved and transparency in our actions", he

added.

Home ministry sources say that Pakistan is the key to getting

the hostages freed. They can claim that Al-Faran "was

continuously in touch with Harkat-ul-Ansar, which is controlled

by Jamiet-ul-ulema Islam of Pakistan". This was why Maulana

Fazhur Rehman, a supporter of Pakistan prime minister Benazir

Bhutto, came to India in July end "after admitting that he had got

three telephone calls from the abductors". The Maulana's mission

failed, according to home ministry sources, because "he was

insistent that at least three Pakistani prisoners Sazad Afgani,

Nazrullah Langryal, and Massoud Azhar, be released in exchange

for the hostages". Interestingly, the abductors of Kim Housego

as well as those who kidnapped four foreign tourists in 1994 had

also demanded the release of the very same prisoners. An official

involved in the debriefing of the escaped hostage John Childs

and a Kashmiri guide who had been with some of the kidnapped

tourists revealed that both were clear that "of some two dozen

kidnappers, only one spoke in Kashmiri, roughly half seemed to

be Pakistanis and the rest Afghans".

Indian negotiators in touch with the abductors said that "our

message to them is simple; killing the hostages will harm your

cause, free them and you can make your way to Pakistan". They

confirmed that there was "no question of releasing any of the 

terrorists demanded by the kidnappers", adding that in the

Rubaiya Sayeed case, in which the V.P. Singh government

released hardcore terrorists in exchange for the then home

minister’s daughter five years ago, "India has paid heavily for

this deal".

While officials in the home ministry appear hopeful that

"behind-the-scene" pressure by the Western countries on Pakistan

and Pakistan financed secessionist groups in Kashmir will help

to have the hostages released, the counter insurgency experts are

sceptical. They pointed out that "releasing the hostages means

that the Pakistan hand becomes clear". Rather than this, it suits

Islamabad to prolong the crisis, thereby keeping Kashmir in the

international spotlight. They further pointed out that Islamabad

gains by the drying up of tourism in the Valley and the

consequent extra hard-ship to the local people. A senior Indian

official claimed that messages intercepted from across the border

clearly specified that "political leaders, government officials and

foreigners should be kidnapped to bring the Kashmir situation

to the attention of world media". Indian officials are however

hopeful that "because of the policy of transparency, there are few

takers for (Pakistan foreign minister) Assif Ali’s lie that India

was responsible for the kidnapping". They say that "unless

Western powers openly call a spade and demand that Pakistan

forces the Harkat-ul- Ansar to handover the hostages, the crisis

is likely to get prolonged.

When asked why a commando operation has not yet been

launched, the counter-terrorism experts pointed out that "unlike

buildings or aircrafts which are enclosed spaces, the hostages are

being held in the open, thus the element of surprise in a raid will

be missing". They repeat that the "decision whether or not to

launch a raid has to come from the three Western countries

involved, namely US, Britain and Germany". They added that

"as of now all the three countries are still trying to use their

influence with Pakistan to get the hostages released".