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| We gave in to terrorism with Kandahar, Rubaiya: Farooq | | |
New Delhi, Aug 24 The swap of jailed militants and terrorists for Rubaiya Sayeed in 1989 and for passengers of a hijacked plane in Kandahar a decade later is responsible for 'what the world is facing today', says former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Farooq Abdullah.
In an exhaustive interview to newsmagazine Tehelka that hits the stands Friday, Abdullah, who played a key role during both occasions as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, said the release altered the fortunes of the state and the country and was impacting the world.
While all five militants freed to secure the release of Rubaiya, the daughter of then Indian home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed, were jailed in Jammu and Kashmir, one of the three - Maulana Masood Azhar - was in a Jammu prison.
Abdullah dwells at length on the behind-the-scene manoeuvrings that went on during both swaps, his party's relations with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the future of Jammu and Kashmir.
Abdullah maintains that he had violently protested against the release of militants on both occasions, even offered to resign but was 'compelled' to go along with the decisions.
'I think we all regret it. I'm sure if you ask people who were in power then about what the world is facing today and if they are honest I'm sure they will admit that they're responsible for it. Responsible for what is happening in London and in Pakistan,' said Abdullah, referring to the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Zargar and Omar Sheikh in exchange for the hostages of IC 814 that was taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan in December 1999.
'I think our senior leaders like (L.K.) Advani and (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee are responsible for the global terrorism that is being spread by the band of men they released. The tragedy is that of the list (of terrorists) we gave to the government of Pakistan, none of them have been handed over,' he told Tehelka.
'As far as Maulana Masood Azhar is concerned, the decision to release him and the two others was made by the then prime minister, Vajpayee, and by Advani. It is they who compelled me to release him for the passengers aboard IC-814 that had been hijacked to Kandahar.'
Referring to the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed, Abdullah said he had initially refused to release the five militants in exchange for her safety.
According to him, the V.P. Singh government panicked and wanted Rubaiya back at all costs. The then prime minister even phoned him in the middle of the night saying he was sending a team comprising I.K. Gujral, Arif Mohammad Khan and Intelligence Bureau director M.K. Narayanan to work out the details of the release.
Gujral reportedly told Abdullah: 'We have got the authority to release five militants and if you don't (free them), then they are going to dismiss me (Farooq Abdullah).
'I told my chief secretary to please take a note that such-and-such team has come, that they have the PM's and cabinet's orders that the five militants have to be released at all costs.
'Whatever the cost to the country and therefore whatever the onus, whatever happens here, to the country, will be because of the government of India. Get them to sign this. I insisted that they sign,' said Abdullah.
Abdullah further said: 'My biggest regret is that I did not resign when V.P. Singh was the prime minister and he sent that team. I should have put my resignation in their hands and said, goodbye, you do what you like.
'That is my biggest regret. I should have gone then because we gave in to something we should never have given into. We gave in to terrorism.'
Abdullah also said it was a mistake on his part to remain within NDA in the light of the Kandahar experience and the Gujarat riots of 2002.
'But yes, we should have left the NDA straightaway after the Gujarat riots and should have joined issue with others who were raising a voice against the atrocities. Looking back, I think we made a mistake to stay on. Omar did go later, but by then it was too late and the damage had been done to the party.'
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