DATE=12/28/1999
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=INDIA / HOSTAGE FAMILIES (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-257554
BYLINE=JIM TEEPLE
DATELINE=NEW DELHI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: As Hijackers continue to hold 160 hostages on
board an Indian Airlines plane in Kandahar,
Afghanistan, the ordeal continues for the families and
friends of the hostages. Most of the hostages on the
Indian Airlines plane are Indian nationals and in
recent days their relatives have become increasingly
critical of the Indian government for not doing enough
to end the crisis. VOA's Jim Teeple has more in this
report from our New Delhi bureau.
TEXT: // ACTUALITY OF TRAFFIC SOUND OUTSIDE PRIME
MINISTER'S RESIDENCE //
TEXT: The heavy traffic on New Delhi's Race Course
Road slows to a crawl as it passes by the official
residence of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee.
Many of those in the cars wave to show their support
to the people gathered outside the gates, the
relatives of the hostages in Kandahar.
Mr. Vajpayee and other senior officials have begun
meeting with hostage families to offer them words of
hope and to encourage them to remain calm. On Monday,
there were violent clashes as some of the relatives -
frustrated by a lack of progress in the hostage crisis
-- tried to force their way inside the residence to
confront the officials monitoring the crisis.
Now, many of the relatives seem exhausted. Neerish
Kalia's sister and brother-in-law were returning from
their honeymoon in Nepal. Standing outside the prime
minister's residence, a tired Mr. Kalia says the
government should do more to end the crisis.
/// KHALIA ACTUALITY ///
They have been inefficient and very slow. This is
such a big event - it should be taken very seriously
and they should have acted faster. They have already
taken five days and five days is a very long time to
handle such a situation.
/// END ACTUALITY ///
(OPT) Indian government officials insist they are
doing all they can. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh
says the team of negotiators India sent to Kandahar to
meet with the hijackers would have left a day earlier,
but there were delays in getting permission to land in
Afghanistan. The Indian government has also
appointed a high-level official to brief the relatives
of the hostages on a regular basis. (END OPT)
The hijackers are demanding the release of Maulana
Masood Azhar, a Pakistani-born cleric, and several
militant separatists from Kashmir. All are jailed in
India on terrorism charges. Some of the relatives
have called for the release of the prisoners -
reminding government officials that a previous Indian
government did just that when Kashmiri separatists
kidnapped the daughter of a cabinet minister nearly
ten years ago.
Prime Minister Vajpayee says he will never bow to
terrorism - a stance supported by one of the
relatives, S-K Sharma, who has a cousin on board the
hijacked plane. Mr. Sharma says he is angry at the
government, but his anger stems from the fact the
plane was hijacked in the first place. He says more
precautions need to be taken to prevent such
incidents.
/// SHARMA ACTUALITY ///
It is better that they should have tight
security efforts. They have so many agencies,
there is no coodination -- nobody works - there
is no accountability on the part of the big
officers. What can we do?
/// END ACTUALITY ///
Indian officials are also being criticized for
allowing the plane to leave Indian territory. Shortly
after the plane was hijacked, it landed in the
northern Indian city of Amritsar, where it stayed for
about forty minutes before taking off again. Officials
in New Delhi say it appears no one in Amritsar had the
necessary authority to take action to block the plane
from leaving. They have promised an investigation
into what happened. (Signed)
NEB/JLT/KL
28-Dec-1999 08:05 AM EDT (28-Dec-1999 1305 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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