Prime Minister snubs Jethmalani for wanting to shoot down 36 militants

Prime Minister snubs Jethmalani for wanting to shoot down 36 militants
HARISH GUPTA

NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 31: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on Friday reportedly snubbed Law Minister Ram Jethmalani for wanting all the 36 militants, whose release was being sought, to be shot dead to teach the terrorists a lesson.

Jethmalani was also for a strong action against the Pakistan-trained militants operating in India to send the right signal.

However, the Prime Minister reminded him that India was a democratic country and had dealt with these militants firmly. Since Jethmalani was not present in the Cabinet meetings for the past seven days, he had no idea of the implications of his suggestions.

Jethmalani expressed these views at an informal Cabinet meeting on Thursday and found no takers. In fact, another Union Minister had gone to the extent of telling the Cabinet that military action should be taken in Kandahar to get the hostages released irrespective of the consequences. The Minister was reminded what had happened to a similar operation conducted by the US decades ago.

Secondly, theTaliban had clearly told India that they did not want any bloodshed on their soil. They wanted peaceful resolution of the crisis and if the negotiated settlement was not possible, they would like the plane to leave Kandahar.

When one of the ministers wanted to know the progress made during the talks with the Taliban, External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh politely informed him that they had not entered into the crucial phase so far. Basically, Singh conveyed that it would be pre-mature to disclose the details.

However, it was gradually becoming clear during these informal parleys that the Vajpayee Government was averse to any hardline approach in this case as it involved the lives of innocent passengers.

It was largely because of this reason that Home Minister Lal Krishna Advani maintained a studied silence at the meetings. Advani knew the limitations of the Government in the crisis. He himself was sitting at the Crisis Management Group's headquarters at the Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan at 7 pm when the crisiswas at its peak at Amritsar. Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar, no doubt, was heading the CMG at monitoring the situation and issuing directions. But Advani was also present there to assist him.

Civil Aviation Minister Sharad Yadav was at the Indira Gandhi International Airport to pacify the agitated passengers who had gone wild after the news broke that four had been killed.

Secondly, Vajpayee Government was also worried that it could spurt communal tension in the country. It was because of this very reason that he called a meeting of Muslim religious leaders at his residence. He also appealed to others to create an atmosphere that Islam did not permit hijacking or violence.

Deputy chairperson of Rajya Sabha Najma Heptulla's help was sought in establishing contacts with the world leaders. Najma has personal relations with them particularly in the Arab world. She was unanimously elected the president of the International Parliamentary Union due to the backing of the Arab world.

Vajpayee also invitedformer prime minister Chandrashekhar for talks at his residence who said there was nothing wrong if some of the militants could be released for the sake of innocent passengers.

Vajpayee spoke to a number of other leaders including Inder Kumar Gujral and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. Sources close to Vajpayee say that he took the decision to release three militants to relieve the nation on the New Year eve.