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Hostage crisis turning

costlier for Rao regime

NEW DELHI: The delay over the resolution of the Western hostage crisis in Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir has started telling upon New Delhi.

Indian officials admit that the image of Prime Minister P V Narsimha Rao's regime will take a beating unless a breakthrough is achieved in a few days. "Despite revulsion on the hostage-taking, the West may soon start questioning the government's capability to deal with such situations", officials said.

The argument is simple, Al-Faran's act is condemnable but what is New Delhi doing for resolution of the hostage crisis? it is adding up tension for those countries whose nationals continue to be in captivity for the past 53 days.

New Delhi is trapped in its own messy game. It had felt the abductions would help it clinch a mileage internationally in implicating Pakistan.

However, it has recoiled against it as the international community saw through it. With the gruesome beheading of Norwegian tourist Hans Christian Ostro, New Delhi was hoping that alongwith the captors Pakistan will also come up for a severe criticism. In a planned manner the Indian media, at the obvious behest of New Delhi, launched a disinformation campaign to malign Pakistan but the game fell through to the great disappointment of New Delhi, and especially the externall affairs ministry. New Delhi's hope for getting Western nations opinion hoodwinked, has dashed against the rock as western nations have well realised the motive in prolonging the hostage crisis.

Even the report, seeming 'too-perfect-to-be-true', dished out and highlighted by Indian media could not help New Delhi befool the west and independent analysts as they have started doubting the whole hostage episode. It may be mentioned here that even before the US State Department denied reports about President Bill Clinton urging Pakistan Prime Minister Ms. Benazir Bhutto to stop the reported threat of execution of the four Western hostages, many in India started "picking holes" in the story.

They wondered how a report emanating from Srinagar, capital of Indian-held Kashmir, and detailing a conversation between Clinton and Ms. Bhutto could be taken seriously.

Pakistan Foreign Office has already vehemently denied the report and said it was based on "briefings from Indian sources" in an abortive bid to seeking to establish a connection between Pakistan and the kidnappers.

In an interview with eyewitness, an Indian T.V. current affairs programme and re-produced by 'Hindustan Times', Ms. Bhutto categorically denied her government's involvement in the hostage issue. She also refuted charges that Pakistan's top politician, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, had links with Al-Faran captors. "He has no connection with Al-Faran" Ms. Bhutto told Karanthappa, first Indian journalist to interview her since her coming to power in Pakistan.

Ms. Bhutto clearly stated that the Al-Faran outfit was a creation of the Indian "intelligence", in the interview, telecast of which was earlier not allowed by Indian government. External Affairs Ministry had barred presentation of the interview for understandable reasons.

However, the producer of the eyewitness released the transcript of the interview on Thursday (August 24), though it was a scheduled to be run on August 13, day before Pakistan independence day celebrations.

Being trapped in its own laid out nets, New Delhi is worried now that the hostage crisis has been going on for past fifty-three days. Officials in New Delhi admit that it's diminishing returns" have started for Rao regime. The Western nations, especially whose nationals have been languishing in the captivity, have started questioning the credibility and capability of the regime.

Home Department officials advocate commando operation against the captors but many fear such operation might put the lives of the four hostages at risk.-APP