‘Advani didn’t want terrorists freed… Atal told me explain it to him,I did’

Saying he was “sharing this for the first time,” Jaswant Singh,the then External Affairs Minister who accompanied three terrorists to Kandahar,told The Indian Express in a recorded interview here today that on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s saying,he went to Advani to explain “why it (freeing the terrorists) should be done.”

“I will tell you who were opposed. I have not spoken it ever. I am sharing this for the first time,” said Singh,who is contesting the Darjeeling Lok Sabha seat backed by the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha.

“Two members in the Vajpayee Cabinet were opposed to the idea of release of any terrorist in exchange for hijacked Indian Airlines passengers and pay any price. Shri Lal Krishna Advaniji and Mr Arun Shourie voiced their views against…that this should not be done. And I am sharing this for the first time.

“Hearing of Lalji Advani’s reservations,the then Prime Minister Vajpayeeji told me that I should go personally and explain everything to Lalji. I remember I went and told Lalji why it should be done. I do not exactly remember what effort was taken to explain things to Mr Arun Shourie.

“L K Advani,like a loyal and devoted party member,responded and referred to the collective wishes of the Cabinet. Lalji also suggested that the consent of the Chief Minister of the state concerned,J & K,should be sought and his views be heard. Farooq Abdullah was consulted. He did object to the release of terrorists. Fine,he had a reservation. Reservations about release of certain terrorists like Masood Azhar and two others. His reservations were taken into account. Later,L K Advani also reasoned with him.

“It was not as if the Cabinet (did not) discuss (the issue). Decisions were taken in a hurry but only after prolonged and intense discussion. Atal Behari Vajpayee’s Cabinet was the most democratic Cabinet in which decisions were taken after full discussions.”

The three terrorists who were released were Maulana Masood Azhar,who later founded the Jaish-e-Mohammad; Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Omar Saeed Sheikh,convicted for the killing of US journalist Daniel Pearl.

Singh’s remarks come when the Kandahar exchange has been raised by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul to counter Advani’s charge that Singh is the “weakest Prime Minister.”

His remarks also assume significance given that in an interview to Shekhar Gupta,Editor-in-Chief,The Indian Express,on NDTV’s Walk the Talk in March last year,Advani had said that he “did not know” about Jaswant Singh going to Kandahar until “he was going.”

In that interview,Advani did admit that he “was not happy with the decision (to free the terrorists).” Asked why did Jaswant Singh have to go,Advani had said: “He was not escorting them,he was trying to bring back the passengers being held hostage. But I don’t think I’m answerable for that. If the Cabinet Committee on Security had taken the decision,I would have been answerable,but it did not.”

Singh also slammed the Congress for raising the issue in the manner in which it has done. “After the hijack of the Indian Airlines flight with 166 passengers on board,members of the Congress party were encouraged to organize rallies and protests and to roll in the streets outside the Prime Minister’s residence demanding the release of the hijacked passengers.”

Singh said that in a meeting,the Opposition was of the “categorical” view “that the government must find a solution to the problem and while looking for a solution,safety of the 166 hijacked passengers should be the government’s prime concern…Beyond a certain point,Opposition parties to the NDA are trying to make a political issue out of potential national wrongs of great dimensions.”

To underline this point,Singh said: “Again,I will repeat,I for example,do not keep harping on the abduction of Rubaiya Sayeed,of Charar-e-Sharif or Hazratbal or numerous such instances,it is because I know the government will continue to face such challenges. Any government might face these situations in future. Decisions would have to be taken by the government of the day,then and there. One of the most difficult things is to decide between two great wrongs. Wrongs to release three wanted terrorists; wrongs to let a total of 166 hijacked passengers die.

“There is one more lesson to be in this. The criminal law justice system. All the three terrorists released were in custody for three years to eight years. I am not going to ask what the previous governments were doing about this because I know the reality of the sluggishness of the system. That’s why I appeal to all to reflect on the challenges we face on a continuing basis. All judgment is retrospective,where the vision is 20-20. And a government in power has to act on the instant. We did not have the leisure of 20-20 vision then.”