Objective Analysis of Jaswant Singh's Mind

Jaswant Singh   is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs.  A self described social democrat, he is also one of the few BJP leaders who don’t belong to the Parivar (I mean “Sangh” ).  It was rumored that  he was  Vajpayee’s  first choice as  Finance Minister ,  but was  vetoed  by    “folks  @ Nagpur”   (  7 Race course Road power centre for  BJP).  Even though,  his performance  during  NDA rule was  quite creditworthy,  his  critics say  his lasting legacy was the picture  of  India’s  External Affairs Minister   escorting   Terrorists  to  Kandahar, which according to me  is highly unfair.

The purpose of this essay is not to go into the merits   or demerits of his Kandahar Trip.  But  rather this is an attempt  in analyzing  his  thought process   during those  tense moments  of  Kandahar  hijack  episode.    I did see his NDTV interview on that episode after 26/11.   He said his decision w.r.t Kandahar was taken with the principle, that the lives of 166 people who were held hostage in that Indian Airlines plane are precious.  You can’t argue with that.  

Let us go back in time machine and be flies on the wall   in the meeting room of Cabinet (i.e.  GOI Cabinet ministerial meeting room.)

You could hear, Mr. Singh in his baritone voice, arguing for the exchange of terrorists in lieu of hostages.  His arguments are really impressive. 

Lives of 166 people vs.  the harm Mazood Azhar  and his two  colleagues can bring  to India.    The first part is absolutely certain.  As  someone  who  bored even  Strobe Talbot  to  death and agreement  in marathon  negotiations  about  Indo – US  friendship, Mr. Singh can talk to the folks  at  Kandahar  and ensure the safety of our citizens.  For the second part of the equation, we need to bring in people who are good in   Probability theory as well as sooth saying.   Who knows, transformed by the magnanimity offered by Govt.  Of India, L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh,   Mazood Azhar might decide to turn into a    “Father Theresa” and serve the humanity here after.   If he goes back to his old ways, then let us keep requesting Pakistan   governments   (plural is intended, because at any point of time, Pakistan is known to be ruled by   5 – 6 power centers!)  to return him to India, so that any future Govt.  @ Delhi can use him   as exchange material   for future hostage crises.

So it was quite an easy decision to make.   A certain present vs. “an uncertain future”.    

Send Mazood Azhar to Kandahar.   “Curtain” on Act 1.

Come back to the present interview. We should salute the integrity of Mr. Singh who did own up the responsibility of the act. (Unlike   Mr. Advani who t don’t  (can’t ) remember  that episode at all, even though  he wrote  an  800 odd page volume about rest of  his life (except the Kandahar). ).   Also we should   appreciate the value Mr. Singh ascribes to Lives of Indian citizens.  He was not a soothsayer to predict that instead of those 166 lives we saved @ Kandahar,   Mazood Azhar took away a bigger number through the mad acts of his lunatic Fanatics.   

 What  I really don’t appreciate  ( &  understand ) is  the  second part of the statement  which said “if a Kandahar hijack-like situation arose again, he would do the same (release terrorists in lieu of hostages)”.

There is a fair chance that Mr. Singh may return as a Cabinet Minister in the next government.  (Either if Advani gets lucky or MMS does an Obama act). Now those terrorists know what to do.  Whether we have a TADA /POTA/ Strongest Law in the entire universe (which I would call   a – Run – JET LI law), hijack a plane /bus / auto rickshaw, and fax/email the demands to the Govt.

 Govt.  Of India should appoint a Protocol Officer to take care of such requests and exchange procedures, instead of assigning the responsibility of escorting the released prisoners to External Affairs Minister…