Resolving the Hijack Crisis

It is quite unacceptable and in fact condemnable that the Indian Airlines
Flight 814 hijack crisis overshadows the peaceful and hopeful holiday season of
not just Indians or South Asians but the entire humanity. The relatives and
friends of the passengers, the crew, and the hijackers deserve our special
sympathies and support.

They are understandably upset and even angry that their loved ones among the
passengers and the crew have to undergo this horrendous terror and trauma for
no personal mistake of theirs. These people's resolve of getting their
relatives and friends out of the plane safe and sound must be the top priority
in any of the crisis resolution schemes the concerned parties may come up with.

On the other hand, the political ground reality in the subcontinent makes one
mutter helplessly: "If only things were that straight and simple!" In a
complicated and protracted conflict such as the Kashmir issue which is mired in
history, religion, ethnicity, myths, traumas, and international political
intricacies, things cannot be simple and straight forward.

Moreover, one cannot overlook the fact that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party
and their ideological mentors are full of ideas when it comes to perpetuating
and creating conflicts in order to advance their own political agenda. As far
as satisfactory conflict management/resolution is concerned, they are
pathetically out of ideas and imagination. Toeing the traditional position of
the Indian and most other governments the world over, the Vajpayee government
has made it clear that they would not yield to the demands of the terrorists.
And they do not seem to have any other alternative plans also. If they actually
did, they would have tried to talk to the terrorists when the hijacked plane
was in Amritsar for refueling, or they would have dispatched a negotiating team
to Lahore, Dubai or Kandahar with a plan or proposition as fast as they could.

In the final analysis, however, it is only fair to acknowledge that the
involvement -direct or indirect, real or imagined- of Pakistan and Afghanistan,
the two countries New Delhi has been having poor and no relations with,
complicates the matter enormously and rules out simple solutions.

The contradictions involved in the hijack crisis are clear. New Delhi does not
want to release Maulvi Masood Azhar and his cohorts from Indian prisons. They
want the hijackers to let the passengers and crew of IC Flight 814 and the
A-300 aircraft go free. In all probability, they would also want the hijackers
to surrender to the Indian authorities and face the legal consequences of their
own terrorists activities.

On the other hand, the hijackers who seem to include Ibrahim Azhar, the brother
of Masood Azhar, want the Islamic cleric and his cohorts out of Indian jails
and borders. If that condition is met, it is understood that they would free
the passengers and the crew as well as the plane. They would obviously want to
go scot-free after all their dastardly acts.

The major bone of contention is, of course, who would have Masood Azhar and his
cohorts. There has been a precedence in India of swapping imprisoned
terrorists and a high-profile hostage. In December 1989, five Kashmiri
militants were let go in order to gain the release of Dr. Rubia Sayeed, the
daughter of the then Indian Home Minister Mr. Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.
Furthermore, the continued detention of Masood Azhar is not going to solve the
Kashmir issue and he and his fellow terrorists are only a liability for the
Indian people and government right now. But then these are not the sufficient
reasons for New Delhi to let go one of the most wanted terrorists.

Releasing Azhar as much as his cohorts could have been a bit more negotiable if
he were an Indian citizen and he was going to be under the control of the
Indian state. The facts that he is a Pakistani citizen and these terrorists are
part of the protracted cross-border terror campaign do not augment an easy or
swift release or swap. It is not just the security of the Indian state which
is at stake but it is Indias international prestige and the established
position that we would not succumb to terror tactics and demands. The age-old
Indo-Pakistan rivalry and distrust, and the BJP's unfavorable disposition
toward Islamabad and Kabul and anyone who is not an upper-caste Hindu do not
make the task any easier either. Having set out to prove the virility and
masculinity of the Hindus to the larger world, the BJP's proud nuclear India
cannot just afford to yield to the pressure of a few Muslim men and Islamic
countries.

Nonetheless, the passengers and the crew of IC-814 have to be rescued also.
Already Vajpayee regime is fast becoming unpopular in India with people
disrupting the Foreign Minister's press conference and confronting a junior
minister at the funeral of the hijack victim, Rippan Katyal, with anger and
frustration.

What are the options for the Indian government? Both the extremes of not doing
anything and Entebbe-type commando attack can result in heavy human casualty.
New Delhi cannot readily accept the terrorists' demands as they do not want to
send out wrong signals to the various militant outfits that operate around the
country. One possible way out of this crisis could be the following. If both
New Delhi and the hijackers want Azhar and his cohorts, let them both not have
them. These men could be sent to a third country, say South Africa for
instance, for a fair and speedy trial on the basis of international law for the
crimes they are accused of having committed. The hijackers can also hand over
the hijacked plane along with its passengers and the crew to Pretoria and
surrender themselves to the authorities there. Their passage to wherever they
came from could be determined by the South African officials in accordance with
the international law also.

Having put this ugly episode behind, South Asians could start addressing the
larger issues earnestly and meaningfully. As the Chinese characters for the
word 'conflict' denote both opportunity and creativity, India and Pakistan
together with other state-parties such as Afghanistan and China and all the
non-state parties involved in the Kashmir conflict should take a hard and bold
look inward. They should meditate particularly on the futility of militarism,
terror and violence in resolving the issue. More importantly, New Delhi and
Islamabad should open up the public space to discussion of all possible
solutions to the Kashmir issue. Needless to say that the people of Kashmir
themselves should not be objectified in such discussions as if they were herd
of cattle who India or Pakistan owned. After all, they have the right to
decide their own political destiny.

The timing of the IC-814 hijack crisis portends several things. Striking at
the season of peace and goodwill and shaking the entire humanity out of its
slumber, the crisis highlights the need to face and address militarism,
terrorism, violence and unimaginative conflict management/resolution methods.
This is a momentous opportunity to leave the largely violent twentieth century
behind and welcome the twenty-first century with the hopes of continuous
dialogue, accommodation, nonviolence, peace and development. And finally, why
should India be the theater of this message? The land that has given the
humanity Buddha, Ashoka, Mahavir, Guru Nanak, Mahatma Gandhi, Khan Abdul Gaffar
Khan, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Mother Teresa and many other votaries of
nonviolence and peace, has an historic role to play in the future of humankind.

It is this peace and conflict resolution heritage that the world is so keen to
take from us. It is our turn now to decide what to do.