Few can forget the images of the three Indian truckdrivers held hostage in Iraq recently by hooded gunmen oddly called the Holders of the Black Banners. Or the prolonged negotiations that often descended into the absurd as the Indian Government played all its cards to secure their release. Recall also the time when the government was at its wits' end negotiating with the hijackers of the Indian Airlines IC-814 in December 1999. The confusion during both the incidents underlined the total lack of a hostage policy.

Now all this may change. After weeks of debating, the UPA Government is all set to come out with a hostage policy on the lines of those in the US, China and Israel. The basic premise of the new policy will be a strict "no negotiations" section. Considering that India's management of hostage crises has been characterised by ambiguity and inconsistency, evident by its past handling of such events, there was a long-felt demand for a policy statement. The Iraq hostage crisis has provided the cue. This policy would form the blueprint for tackling all future hostage-taking situations as well as lay out the steps to be initiated to resolve a crisis. Says National Security Adviser (NSA) J.N. Dixit: "No concessions will be the basis of the new policy. It will also examine aspects like subsequent action and assessment of captors' abilities."

KEY PROPOSALS

NO CONCESSIONS: The government will not concede any demand of individuals or groups holding official or private citizens hostage. No prisoners will be released, no ransom paid and no policies changed. NEGOTIATIONS: The government will make every effort, including contact with representatives of the captors, to obtain the release of hostages. PUNISHMENT: The government will seek prosecution and punishment for hostage takers and will use all legal methods, including extradition.

Three position papers have been finalised. The first has been prepared by Dixit's deputy, Satish Chandra, the second by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Home Ministry and the third by the Ministry of External Affairs. "The cabinet secretary will marry all these ideas and then present it shortly to the Cabinet Committee for Security Affairs," says a Home Ministry official. Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed, who was in charge of the Crisis Management Group (CMG) in the Iraq hostage crisis, told India Today, "It will be a comprehensive policy for dealing with hostage-related situations without compromising on the Government's stand of not negotiating with abductors."

The key features of the proposed hostage policy are:

The government will make no concessions to individuals or groups holding official or private citizens hostage-no ransom, release of prisoners or policy changes.

The government will make every effort, including contact with representatives of the captors, to obtain the release of hostages without making concessions to the hostage takers.

The government will seek prosecution and punishment for hostage takers and will use all legal methods to these ends, including extradition.

PAST CRISES

RUBAIYA SAYEED: The daughter of the Union home minister was kidnapped by JKLF in December 1989. RESULT: Five JKLF militants were released in exchange for her safety. FOREIGN TOURISTS: The little known group Al-Faran kidnapped five foreign tourists in Kashmir in 1995. RESULT: When Al-Faran's demand for the release of jailed militants was not conceded, it killed all five hostages. IC-814: Indian Airlines flight carrying 250 people hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan in December 1999. RESULT: Government released three top militant leaders to secure the safe return of the hostages. TRUCKDRIVERS: Three Indians working as truckdrivers in Iraq kidnapped by militants in September 2004. RESULT: All three released after eight weeks of negotiations with captors.

In the past, various governments have used different yardsticks to deal with hostage takers. The eight-day long Kandahar hijacking of IC-814, which culminated in the release of three top militants, saw many ups and downs. Had the CMG acted more swiftly, the plane need not have left Indian airspace and a rescue operation could have been launched. But dithering led to demands constantly fluctuating. Finally, the NDA government was forced to free Jaish-e-Mohammed leaders Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Syed Sheikh Omar (now on death row in Pakistan for the murder of The Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl) and Ahmed Zargar alias Latram, in Kandahar.

This was also the case when the jklf kidnapped Rubaiya Sayeed, daughter of the then Union home minister Mufti Mohammed Sayeed in December 1989. The V.P. Singh government yielded meekly and released five JKLF militants, including Javed Ahmed Zargar and Abdul Hamid Sheikh. When it comes into force, the new doctrine will allow the government to take a tougher stand.

Sometimes a tough stance can be counterproductive. For instance, in 1995, the government displayed a rigid stance in the abduction of five foreigners in the Kashmir Valley by a little known militant group, Al-Faran, and refused to accede to their demands for the release of jailed militants. All the five hostages-Dirk Hasert, Paul Wells, Keith Mangan, Donald Hutchings and Hans Christian Ostro-were subsequently killed. At that time, the Indian government had even rejected a US plan to offer a reward to anyone providing clues to the whereabouts of the hostages. "A hostage policy must be part of the country's counter-terrorism strategy, which includes a determination not to concede demands made by terrorists," says security expert B. Raman.

The Government also wants to make it clear that it will not pay ransom. This was one of the demands of the kidnappers of the truck drivers in Iraq. But through some deft moves, the CMG managed to establish contact with representatives of the captors without making concessions to the hostage takers.

Raman argues that while the country must have a firm hostage policy, on occasions it may have to be flexible. The IB subscribes to this view. "Every hostage situation has its own dynamics and the cost-benefit analysis is important while finding a solution," says a senior official.

Ahamed argues that there has to be some degree of "flexibility" even in tough hostage situations. "It depends on the ground situation, whether security is vulnerable and how much assistance one can receive from the local authorities," he says. "During the crisis in Baghdad, a lot of work was done through Track II diplomacy where we used discretion and did not cave in."

National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) officials argue that once a hostage policy gets public support, political parties will not exercise influence during a hostage situation. "This will then strengthen the hands of those involved in managing the situation," said an NSCS official. As Dixit pointed out after the release of the truckdrivers, "Human lives are important but if you compromise once, you can be victimised again and again."

A hostage policy may not save lives but it can prevent the recurrence of humiliating crises.

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