Bringing the hijackers to justice

THE PAKISTANI ESTABLISHMENT stands fully exposed, its complicity in the hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight IC- 814 determined beyond doubt by the identification of the criminals responsible for the cruel act of air piracy on Christmas Eve, following the arrest of four accomplices in Mumbai. All five hijackers are Pakistanis, and according to the Government, their identity has been confirmed by some of the passengers and crew of the plane to whom their photographs were shown; so are two of the nabbed accomplices described as operatives of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence. With this major breakthrough India must now press for international action to bring the criminals to justice. It is now incumbent on the international community to ask the Taliban authorities in whose territory the men disembarked and their spiritual mentors now ruling Pakistan to deliver the hijackers to face trial in this country. It was astonishing to see the criminals walk to their freedom from the hijacked aircraft, escorted to a waiting automobile by the guntoting men controlling Kandahar airport. Equally shocking is the Pakistani-Taliban charade as to the destination of these desperadoes. Never since the early days of hijackings has the world witnessed the grant of such total immunity to pirates who had not hesitated to knife a civilian passenger to death.

The identification of the hijackers, making some amends for the earlier lapses in intelligence gathering and analysis, must boost this country's effort to mobilise international opinion against whichever state provides them shelter or sympathy. After the understandable low-key reaction in the initial days of the hijacking, most countries have spoken out against it. The United States, not fully ready to accept India's demand that Pakistan be declared a terrorist state, has said categorically that it wants the hijackers brought to justice. All developments following the hijacking which culminated in the hostages-militants swap at Kandahar on December 31 confirm the hand of the Pakistani establishment in masterminding the piracy. The sponsor had provided the blueprint, meticulous planning and the logistics support required for an operation of this magnitude in a third country, as the Union Home Minister has revealed. The return of the freed militant and Harkat ideologue, Maulana Masood Azhar, to a triumphal welcome in Karachi, the vitriol that he has poured out, and the harsh rhetoric that Pakistan's Chief Executive, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, has employed against this country hold but one message: support to militancy across the border is part of the official agenda of the military government in Islamabad.

An agenda that neighbouring Afghanistan, under the control of the Taliban, obviously shares. During the tense days of the hijacking, the ragtag army of religious volunteers which took the world by surprise by seizing control of the country five years ago displayed a benign face that one never suspected existed. While it is not clear if the Taliban had a role in the hijacking, there was no doubting where its sympathy lay as the men in the armoured trucks at Kandahar stood back and piled pressure on the Indian negotiators. There were suggestions that in cooperating with India to peacefully resolve the hijack crisis the Taliban may have been seeking legitimacy for its regime in Kabul, recognised by only three countries now, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. But there can be no legitimacy through acts of piracy. It is the Taliban, in fact, which holds the primary responsibility for handing over the hijackers to India. The obscurantist elements comprising the Taliban though may not understand that no motive can sanctify such dastardly crimes as the killing of a defenceless civilian passenger on a flight.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Opinion
Next     : Beyond nineteen eighty-four