India makes a case for release of
hostages By Siddharth Srivastava
NEW DELHI - On Wednesday, India joined the
fast-increasing list of nations faced with a hostage
crisis in Iraq. A previously unknown militant group
calling itself "The Holders of the Black Banners" took
six people, including three Indian truckers, Kenyans and
Egyptians, hostage in Iraq, and threatened to behead
them if the Kuwaiti firm for which they work does not
pull out of the country.
The kidnappers have
said they will kill one hostage every 72 hours -
beginning at 1600 Greenwich Mean Time on Wednesday -
unless the governments to which they belong withdraw
their citizens from Iraq. A black flag has been the
symbol of Shi'ite Muslims since the time of Imam Ali,
possibly suggesting that the hostage-takers belong to a
Shi'ite group.
India said on Thursday
that it was doing as much as it could to win the
release of the three Indians, and stressed that it had
no plans to send troops to Iraq. Delhi has rejected
repeated US requests that it help out with peacekeeping
in that country.
Minister of State for External
Affairs Edaepakath Ahmed said, "India has taken a stand
of not sending troops to Iraq. We will only be extending
humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people." India
announced recently that it planned to send a division of
medical troops to Iraq.
The attack on the Indian
workers comes after insurgents have seized hostages from
Japan, South Korea, Poland, Italy, Pakistan, Bulgaria
and the Philippines, besides the United States. The
Philippines is the latest to withdraw its limited
presence after it became embroiled in a hostage drama,
to save one of its citizens.
Hours after the
seizure on Wednesday, a rattled Ahmed said the three
Indians had gone to Iraq on their own and the government
had no role in it. "As soon as we got the information,
we established contact with our embassy in Baghdad and
also our ambassador in Kuwait and asked him to talk to
the transport firm [which was asked by the militant
group to pull out of Iraq] and get further details. We
hope that everything will be resolved because India has
taken a firm stand that it will not send troops to Iraq.
We will provide whatever humanitarian aid possible to
Iraq, and India has always advocated in international
bodies that sovereign power of the people of Iraq has to
be respected.
"I have asked officials in Baghdad
to establish contact with any other source who can
convey to the abductors our stand," Ahmed added.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna
commented, "We are trying to find out all possible
details and coordinate with Iraqi authorities to seek
early release of the kidnapped persons. We are in touch
with our embassy in Baghdad. We are making efforts to
ensure safe release of the abducted persons." External
Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, who was in Islamabad,
was briefed about developments.
Officials in
Delhi admit that the government is bracing itself for an
Indian hostage situation along the lines of the one
Manila endured. While militants have regularly targeted
Americans after the US invaded Iraq in March 2003, they
have also attacked allied soldiers and civilians working
for companies that the US brought to Iraq to rebuild the
country. The possibility of Indians being targeted by
groups sympathetic to al-Qaeda is high, given that the
terrorist group has promised to "punish" anyone
supporting the US. Also, al-Qaeda sees India as an enemy
for its stance over the Jammu and Kashmir problem with
Pakistan.
The hostage crisis is likely to
diminish any further direct and official involvement of
India in Iraq. This month Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
once again ruled out India sending troops to Iraq,
saying there was no change in his government's policy
with regard to that country. However, last week India
promised humanitarian and civilian support in Iraq
during the visit of US Deputy Secretary of State Richard
Armitage.
Commenting on the Armitage visit,
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said, "The
United States and India remain close friends and
partners. All of Armitage's meetings reflected the warm
and collaborative nature of our relationship with India
and they are indicative of the direction we want the
relationship to proceed. The US has not made any request
for contribution of troops to Iraq. India has, however,
indicated ways in which it may be helpful in the
reconstruction and rehabilitation of the war-ravaged
country."
Given the latest scenario, the
coalition government that Manmohan Singh heads will be
under increased pressure to ensure that Indians do not
come to harm in Iraq under any circumstance. Despite an
interim government in place in Iraq, many others in the
32-member coalition strapped together by Washington are
giving their presence in Iraq a serious rethink as the
country hurtles toward more lawlessness.
Other
nations add about 22,000 troops - with the United
Kingdom providing the biggest contingent - to the
140,000 US troops. But more than the numbers, they have
offered cover to the US to argue the international
nature of troops present in Iraq. However, the brutal
attacks on citizens and the excuse that the US has
transferred sovereignty to the Iraqis are being used by
nations to thin their presence. Singapore has reduced
its contingent from 191 to 33, Norway has downsized from
155 to 15, and New Zealand, Thailand and Poland are
among the countries winding down, as insurgents spread
fear and loathing by their acts of hostage-taking.
Hundreds of Indian workers are employed by
private contractors for a host of support services in
Iraq. Estimates about the exact numbers vary as several
Indians have entered Iraq illegally after procuring
visas of neighboring countries, such as Kuwait and
Jordan. It is estimated that more than 2,000
ex-servicemen are in Iraq with security-related jobs,
while large US firms involved in reconstruction have
engaged Indian labor in the thousands.
According
to reports, some 400 persons have been recruited for
jobs in Basra and Erbil. About 1.3 million Indians work
in Saudi Arabia and about 100,000 in Kuwait. Many of
these, who are employed as cooks, butchers, domestic
helpers and mess supervisors at US camps, are hired by
agencies based in Kuwait.
While the Indian
government says it cannot monitor the movement of these
persons into Iraq, Indian diplomats in Kuwait and
Jordan, two nations that maintain land links with Iraq,
periodically visit the border and look for stranded
Indians. Eighteen Indians "rescued" from a US Fallujah
camp after they complained of harsh treatment by their
employers were recently flown back home from Jordan.
The Indian diplomatic presence barely extends
outside the heavily guarded offices in Baghdad and does
not possess the wherewithal to monitor Indian workers.
Despite the security provided by the coalition
authorities and the interim government, the Indian
Embassy has had to hire additional private guards. Even
though Indian Ambassador B B Tyagi has reportedly
developed a good rapport with the US authorities, the
Indian establishment is not capable of independent
action. In fact, Indian diplomats recently had to ask
the coalition authorities and the US military liaison
office in Jordan to verify reports of Indians being made
to work against their will in Iraq.
Given such a
tenuous situation, the United States should count out
yet another nation that is in all likelihood going to
wash its hands of Iraq.
Siddharth
Srivastava is a New Delhi-based journalist.
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