Monday, April 09, 2012

Odisha kidnappings

It will be wrong on the part of the Odisha government to accept the demands of the Maoists and release the jailed Maoist guerrillas, in order to secure the release of an Italian tourist. There is an MLA in the custody of the Maoists and there will be a demand for releasing few more Maoists to secure his release.

In this connection, I will quote a portion from the Wikipedia page of John Paul Getty Jr.
Getty initially became reclusive after the death of his second wife in 1971. He moved to Rome as head of Getty Oil Italiana. In 1973, his eldest child and son, Paul III, was kidnapped in Rome by Calabrian mobsters and held in the Calabrian Mountains, chained to a stake in a cave. Getty did not have enough money to pay the $17 million ransom demand, and his father refused to help, saying "I have 14 other grandchildren, and if I pay one penny now, then I will have 14 kidnapped grandchildren." However, when one of his son's ears was delivered by mail to a newspaper in Rome (delivery had been delayed by three weeks because of a postal strike), his father finally agreed to help out with the ransom payment by making the ransom payment a loan to his son.
Eventually the ransom was paid. But the real wisdom lies in this statement: "I have 14 other grandchildren, and if I pay one penny now, then I will have 14 kidnapped grandchildren."

If even one Maoist guerrilla is released from the jail, there will be more kidnappings, more negotiations and more releases. You will forced to go down that route again and again. So do not give in to Maoist demands. If it means losing the lives of an Italian tourist and an Odisha MLA, so be it.

Maoists should be fought, and finished off.

10 comments:

  1. But Odisha CM values the hostages lives. Also, since it involves a foreign national the matter becomes sensitive.Being a CM and in such a responsible position you cannot act like Getty.

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  2. What if is your dad or wife or kid is kidnapped ? will you write the same ??

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  3. Sankaranand: I do agree that the CM values the lives of the hostages. However, by releasing the jailed Maoists, he will be endangering the lives of all the foreign nationals in Odisha and all the MLAs of Odisha. If a method succeeds, it will be tried even more. It is to safeguard the lives of the foreign nationals and that of the MLAs that the Government of Odisha should stay away from releasing the jailed Maoists. Around the world, from Colombia to even our own Assam and J&K, releasing jailed rebels in order to secure the release of the hostages has not helped.

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    1. Badri Seshadri: Yes, I agree that the Maoists will demand more. But I don't think the Odisha CM will bow to Maoists' demands anymore if they continue in this fashion. What could possibly be the plan of the CM is that to agree and satisfy them at first and then kick-start an undercover operation. The psychology of the Maoists is to get noticed or to yearn publicity. So agreeing to their demands will make them feel special and later it would be easier for the government to hold talks with them. That would be the plan of the Odisha government. If they refuse to their demands, only then there would be more violence, kidnappings, damaging train tracks.

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  4. Dear Anon,

    Yes, my response will be the same if the people held hostage are my kin, or myself.

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  5. Badri

    I believe a collector was kidnapped few months ago

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  6. Hi Badri,

    I agree ur point but if v are in the CM position i think v also wil tak the same decision. Bcoz it involves lot of political pressure n other blah blah. Even if he took tat decision (not releasing any body) surely evrybody will scrutinize him. Our ppl itself blame him n say its wrong decision. My personal opinion is v (people) need to change our mindset n shud support the leader who wil tak right decision. I think still majority of ppl r not n that mindset.

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  7. the parliament should pass a law that all kidnappings will be considered as murder and compensation will be issued to the families of the kidnapped and it will never negotiate with kidnappers and will use force to trace them.it should involve kidnapping of all forms from sea pirates to child kidnappings
    if it affects federalism the states should pass similar laws to deal with kidnappers if they want to and states which want to be soft should have the liberty to do so.
    but still if a elected ruler wants to be soft and amends the law to negotiate doesnt he have the rights. shall we have the rights to force him sing our songs. he has the right to sing his song or chalk his own course in dealing with kidnappings/moaism

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  8. Hello, Thanks for your information. This should not happen in Odisha again.
    Arun Kumar Sahoo working for equal rights of all people in our society and Being influenced by Biju Pattnaik he joined as an Odisha BJD leader and work into the main stream of politics.

    Odisha BJD leader

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