Kandahar decision was a bitter pill: BJP

New Delhi, July 18 (UNI) The BJP today defended the NDA's decision to swap three terrorists with the passengers of the hijacked IC-814 plane, saying the decision was a ''bitter pill under very compelling circumstances" to save the lives of 200 innocent people.

The party, however, castigated the Congress for its weak-kneed policy towards extremists. Posing three questions to the Congress, it asked what was the Congress compulsion to provide respectibility to terrorism and infiltrators from across the border.

Talking to newspersons, BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad said the Congress struck down the IMDT to facilitate infiltration from across the Bangladesh border. By making infiltration easier and deportation difficult what message the Congress wanted to send across the country, he asked.

Besides, the Congress in coordination with its Communists friends, adopted a resolution in the Kerala Assembly for release of Abdul Samad Madani from the jail in Tamil Nadu. Madani is an accused in the Coimbatore bomb blasts in which scores of people were killed.

He said Congress chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad had made sedition charges against one of BJP general secretaries who had used 'tough' language against terrorists. But he ought to explain to the people why the Congress and UPA governments had failed to take any 'tough' action against terrorists in their states. Most of terrorist incidents had taken place in Congress or UPA-ruled states as the terrorists were confident that they would go scot-free.

In reply to a question, Mr Prasad, however, refused to comment on matters relating to former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh's book to be released on July 21. He said Mr Singh had already clarified yesterday all doubts, including that no money was paid to terrorists.

On the question of Nexalite attack on tribals at Dantewada yesterday, he said it was unfortunate. He said Naxalism is national problem and should not be seen as just one state related and should be dealt accordingly.

Refering to Home Minister Shivraj Patil's statement in Parliament that Naxalism is a human problem, he said the Home Minister ought to clarify to the people whether killing and chopping of heads of tribals in yesterday's incident was a human act.

UNI KAS RP KN1726