Opinion To pay or not to pay

Inspector General of Police,Anti-Terrorist Operations,(Maharashtra), I supervised police operations when a minister of the state government was kidnapped by a ‘dalam’ of the Peoples War Group in Gadchiroli. The demands included the release of arrested cadres,suspension of police operations,withdrawal of armed police personnel,and the release of a deputy dalam commander facing trial. Backed by the then chief minister,we secured the release of the hostage after two weeks without conceding any demand.

In December the same year,when a Naxalite dalam in Bhandara district kidnapped two engineers of the Atomic Energy Commission from their camp located in the jungle,with full support from the state government,we secured their release through operations without conceding any demand. Relentless pressure on the dalam with active support from the villagers resulted in their being freed after a week. My team and I remain deeply impressed by the strength and stoicism shown by the family members and colleagues of the hostages.

Andhra Pradesh has seen many kidnappings over the years. There,as elsewhere,the demands have almost always been for release of arrested cadres and withdrawal of police. The AP Police have done excellent work for nearly four decades containing the armed revolution of the Peoples War Group. While developing responses to abduction and ransom demands,the sacrifice of the police personnel of Andhra Pradesh,Maharashtra,and other affected states,cannot be ignored. How a situation is handled sends a message and certainly has a big impact on morale.

In the last three decades,kidnapping and ransom scenarios have been many. Years ago when the daughter of a minister in the Jammu & Kashmir government was abducted,it was widely alleged that all concerned capitulated without a semblance of resistance. During the abduction of popular film star Rajkumar by the brigand Veerappan,the victims’ fans and sections of the public in Bangalore did not cover themselves with glory when they thoughtlessly put pressure on the Karnataka government to get their hero released at any cost. The release of terrorists in exchange for the passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar has been widely criticised as a show of weakness.

The exercise of the ‘soft option’ has detractors worldwide. It is contended that by conceding these demands in exhange for hostage lives,criminals will be emboldened to adopt kidnapping for ransom as routine strategy. They advocate the approach described as “no ransom policy”. It is said to have been accepted in the USA,though there is doubt whether it has been consistently applied. Israel has been adopting this policy strictly. In fact its security forces do not hold negotiations at all with kidnappers. In a circular written more than twenty years ago,the Commissioner of Police,London instructed that “no ransom” would be the standard policy and has advocated dialogue simultaneously with police operations,but that not a single demand forming part of the main ransom would be conceded. This letter had been circulated to all the states in India by the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

In a democracy like ours,adopting the “no ransom” approach is not easy. There will be enormous pressure on the officials and the political leadership. The responsibility on those who have to take decisions will be stupendous. It is,therefore,essential to evolve a national consensus on the “no ransom” approach through discussion across the length and breadth of the country. Concurrence of all political parties will have to be secured. There has to be agreement among all the states and between the Centre and the states culminating in a protocol on “no ransom” laying down steps and strategies for handling a crisis involving hostages and the demand for ransom.

Ours is the most terrorist affected country in the world. Left extremist terrorists are committed,organised and ruthless and therefore the most dangerous. If we are to stop them we,the people of this country,have to be tough and be prepared for sacrifices. We will be demonstrating our toughness and determination if we in one voice tell our governments that they should adopt the “no ransom” policy and that we are behind them.

The writer was former Director General of Police,Maharashtra