Don146;t feed the terror

The abduction of seven truck drivers 8212; including three Indians 8212; by a militant group in Iraq only re-affirms, if indeed such affirmation was needed, that what has been going on in Iraq is sheer terrorism and must be dealt with accordingly. The incidence of hostage taking has dramatically increased without doubt because of the encouragement the terrorists, old and new, have received by the capitulation and appeasement from many governments and private organisations. The last such capitulation was by the Philippines when it withdrew its contingent of 51 troops from Iraq to meet the demand of the abductors to release a solitary Filipino hostage last Tuesday. More than six dozen cases of abduction and hostage taking of citizens from nearly two dozen countries have taken place in the past four months. Many countries, like Italy, have stood firm even at the cost of the life of a hostage.

But we don8217;t know how many hostages have been taken and released after ransom was quietly paid out. Appeasement of terrorist 8212; perversely called 8220;freedom fighters8221; by some 8212; can hardly be a viable policy to deal with terrorism when the world is supposed to be at war with the phenomenon of terrorism. For us in India it is very important to adopt an objective approach to the hostage-taking in Iraq. Our sympathies are with the captured persons and their families, of course. And we must apply political pressure on those responsible for law and order in Iraq while pursuing all possible diplomatic option for the safe release of Indian truck drivers being held hostage. But that should not divert our focus from the reality that what we are dealing with is nothing but terrorism. And that we must under no circumstances capitulate to the demands of terrorists. We have had our share of terrorist hostage-taking in J038;K over the years. And if the incidence of such lawless activity has come down in recent times, it is essentially due to a firm resolve not to strike deals with criminals. Whenever we have given in to the demands of terrorists, as the IC-814 hijacking showed, the final costs to the nation 8212; to innocent citizens 8212; has been overwhelmingly higher.

The government must know that its response to the hostage crisis in Iraq could have direct, and grave, repercussions within India. Kidnappings often inspire me-too adventurism and the last thing we need is for the Central government to signal its willingness to do business with terrorists. The Indira Gandhi government8217;s decision not to deal with Ravindra Mhatre8217;s kidnappers in 1984, for instance, must have been a painful one to take, but in hindsight it was correct.