(a) whether some terrorists were released in lieu of passengers of hijacked Indian Airlines Plane;
(b) if so, the other names of terrorists whose release were demanded by those terrorists; and
(c) the criteria adopted by the Government to decide the release of the terrorists ?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS
(SHRI CH.VIDYASAGAR RAO)
(a) Yes, Sir.
(b) A list is attached. Names of the 3 terrorists who were released have been starred
in the attached list.
(c) In handling the situation arising from the hijacking, Government set for itself
clear and consistent priorities. These were
(a) the earliest termination of the hijacking
(b) the safe return of the passengers, crew and aircraft and
(c) the preservation of national security.
The hijacking confronted Government and the nation with making a most difficult choice
between two equally valid and significant moral imperatives : that of the preservation
of innocent lives and that of combating terrorism. The struggle against terrorism
and there should be no doubt about our resolve and firm detremination to crush this
despicable menace - does not mean the secrifice of innocent men, women and children.
The manner in which the termination of the hijacking was secured satisfied in substantial
measure the priorities that Government had set out.
Sl.NO. NAME
1. Maulana Masood Azhar
2. Mohd. Arif Khan
3. Saifullah Khalid
4. Mohd. Sayed Khan
5. Mohd. Hassan Shafiq
6. Mohd. Yousuf Khawaja
7 Nisar Ahmed
8. Sultan Ahmed Mayana
9. Navid Iqbal Bhat
10. Nasir Ikram
11. Abdul Hai Malik
12. Mohd. Ishfaq Rajput
13. Shahid Latif
14. Sohail Ahmad Kataria
15. Mohd. Nazir Khan
16. Nasir Mohd. Soudozi
17. Ahmed Omar Sayed Sheikh
18. Muzzamal Ahmad Dar
19. Farooq Ahmad Raja
20. Nasarullah Manzoor Langariyal
21. Syed Sajid Sajjad Ali Bhukhari
22. Salahuddin Quasmi
23. Mushtaq Zargar
24. Zulfikar Ali Shah
25. Basharat Ali
26. Alam Khan
27. Rahil Ahmad Hashmi
28. Shahid Mohd. Mughal
29. Syed Khalid Hussain Bukhari
30. Nasir Ahmed Gujjar
31. Sayed Waqar Shah
32. Mohd. Ikram Balooch
33. Mohd. Sofi Jamat
34. Ghull Mohd. Bhat
35. Nashiullah
36. Jafar Ali