Left seek probe into Jaswant revelations

New Delhi, July 18 (UNI) Left parties today asked the government to order a probe into the 'revelations' pertaining to the Kandahar episode in the memoirs of senior BJP leader and former External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, saying the people had the right to know the whole truth.

The leaders of the CPI (M), CPI and Forward Bloc also demanded interrogation of the then National Security Adviser Brijesh Mishra regarding his involvement in the episode.

A high-level inquiry was essential to renew the pledge against terrorists, who had once again struck in Mumbai.

However, they did not buy the argument of revival of POTA as suggested by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP leadership. In India, the imposition of the 'dracanion law' was not a solution as a variety of terrorist activities were taking place in Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and the North-East.

''Mr Jaswant Singh has virtually admitted that the Vajpayee government had bartered terrorists for two Americans on board the ill-fated flight,'' CPI General Secretary A B Bardhan told UNI on phone from Kolkata.

It had long been rumoured that that the Vajpayee government paid a ''huge amount'' as ransom in the Kandahar incident in which Mr Jaswant Singh went to the Afghanistan city to swap terrorists in Indian jails with the passengers of the Indian Airlines plane.

''But more intriguing is the revelations of the red bag containing explosives. Indeed Jaswant Singh should come out with full details as it involves the nation's security and integrity,'' Mr Bardhan said.

CPI National Secretary Shamim Faizi said keeping in mind the Right to Information Act, the government on its own should come out with all the details relating to the episode.

CPI (M) floor leaders in the Lok Sabha - Basudeb Acharia and Mohammad Salim - said Mr Singh's revelations had evoked further suspense all around. The then Cabinet was not taken into confidence as revaled by several NDA ministers, Mr Acharia added.

''Unfortunately those who swore by declaring zero tolerance to terrorism had helped terrorists and terrorist organisations despite repeated warning from all quarters, be it the press, public, Parliament or political parties,'' Mr Salim said.

Even now with the occasional revelations the mystery surrounding the release of Maulana Masood Azhar and the accompanying events still remained a suspense, Mr Acharia said.

On the BJP and Mr Modi's demand for revival of POTA, the Left leaders said the laws in themselves were no shield against terrorism. ''It is the machinery that should be made responsible and capable of dealing with the menace,'' said Mr Bardhan.

''Varieties of terrorist outfits like the ULFA in Assam, Naga extremists in Manipur, naxalites in Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and cross-border terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir have their roots in the local environment,'' said Mr Faizi, the CPI weekly 'New Age' Editor.

He said despite government machinery, ''over 2,000 people were massacred, women raped in Gujarat''. ''Where was the law at that time? It was the will that failed not the law. The Modi administration connived with the perpetrators of the worst anti- minority carnage in India's independent history,'' Mr Faizi said.

All the more, the terrorist attacks on the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar, Parliament and the Red Fort occurred when POTA was in force, he added.

Forward Bloc National Secretary G Devarajan, while demanding a high-level probe into Mr Jaswant Singh's revelations said the NDA regime settled the issue ''at the cost of national pride and prestige''.

On the BJP's demand for revival of POTA, he quipped: ''Cutting head is not the solution of a headache.'' UNI KSA/FZ RP DS1601