Hostage Crisis Enters Second Year, Relatives Plan Reward

No categoric statement is available yet on the plight of the hostages abducted by the Al-Faran, though the relatives of the foreigners, abducted two years ago from Pahalgam hills, are here in connection with the second anniversary of the abduction. Julie Mangan, wife of Keith Mangan, the British tourist, and Ms Hasert, Dirk Haserts sister, are already here. Jane Shelly, the wife of the American tourist Donald Hutchings, would be joining the relatives here on July 5th.

The relatives are contemplating the announcement of yet another reward on the second anniversary. But according to informed sources it might not make much of a difference since rewards already announced by the state crime branch, and by the Israeli psycho-kinetist Uri Geller, who offered personal mediation in the matter, still stand. The state crime branch announced a reward of Rs 10 lakhs and Uri Geller, fifty thousand pounds.

Most foreign sleuths and diplomats admit in private conversation that the possibility of the hostages still being alive are far-fetched. Yet there is no official word. This suspense, according to the relatives of the hostages, has been accentuating their trauma and agony. In fact, Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah dismissed as speculation some recent media reports that the hostages had since been killed by their abductors and buried in a blind cave in the hills of south Kashmir. Some militants arrested by the state police and the central security force units have also revealed during investigations that the hostages were killed. But when taken to identify the spot to recover the remains, the arrested militants drew a blank.

Inquiries undertaken by foreign sleuths in association with the local police also failed to throw up any conclusive evidence about the hostages. Significantly, the abductors, the Al-Faran, have been saying since December 1995 that the hostages have been taken away from us by the Army which conducted a crackdown in village Dabran in Anantnag district on 14th December 1995. The statement of the Al-Faran has been denied by the local administration, who maintain that the Al-Faran is actually the Pan-Islamist Harkatul Ansar and nothing less.

At the end of two years, the suspense concerning the fate of the hostages has only been compounded without being sorted out either way. The bottom line is, they could be dead since keeping such a tight-lid on their movements would be too much even by Kashmir standards, where dozens have been kidnapped and where around half a dozen persons die every day in various militancy-related incidents. The other side of the story is that they could still be alive, but that would be nothing short of a miracle. Either way, the interest in the drama is fast declining and not many persons are enthused by the developments concerning the fate of the hostages, except the relatives who are demanding the final word on what actually happened to their dear ones.