Former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh has denied the charges levelled by Congress Rajya Sabha member R K Anand that hijackers of the Indian Airlines IC 814 flight were paid ransom for the safe release of 170 odd passengers and crew members in December 31,1999.
"I have seen the allegations and I would like to clarify the matter once and for all. The Congress parliamentarian has said that I was carrying a leather bag. Yes, I did carry one such bag but it would have burst if there was so much of money in that bag as had been alleged," he said, while answering a question raised by a television journalist at his press conference in New Delhi.
He referred to in detail how the Congress parliamentarian raised the same issue in the Rajya Sabha and how he was forced to withdraw his allegations.
"I had offered to get the matter investigated by any agency. The person concerned then withdrew the allegations made against me and the remarks made by him were expunged," he said.
Jaswant refused to confirm or deny the charge made by Advani that he had opposed the release of the prisoners in exchange for the release of the hijacked passengers. "Whatever decisions that were taken and who said what in the Cabinet Committee for Security was sealed and I leave it at that. Advani's statement is clear and I am not adding anything to it," he said.
The BJP leader said that his book entitled Call of the Hour will give a detailed account of the painful journey that he made with the terrorists from New Delhi to Kandahar in Afghanistan. "But the book is not just about the hijacking incident but there are other chapters as well," he said.
Earlier, Jaswant held discussions with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the Nepal crisis ahead of his visit to the Himalayan Kingdom as a party representative on Monday.
During his half-an-hour meeting with the prime minister, Jaswant advocated strengthening both monarchy and people's democracy in the neighbouring country, where King Gyanendra had seized absolute power last year.
"The first priority should be the earliest restoration of peace and confidence between political parties and the monarchy in Nepal," he said, describing both the king and democracy as two pillars of Nepal's constitutional monarchy.
Asked about his comments on the King's absolute control on the royal army of Nepal, the former minister called the matter an internal affair of the neighbouring country. "The matter has to be resolved by democratic elements in Nepal in consultation with the King," he said.
Jaswant, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, supported Indian intervention in the immediate neighbourhood faced with massive anti-King protests, saying the move was also a necessity on grounds of New Delhi's own security concerns.
"I do not think it is ever too late to start," he remarked when asked whether he believed New Delhi should have acted immediately when trouble erupted in Nepal. Jaswant said he also discussed the nuclear deal and other foreign affairs issues with the prime minister.
With PTI Inputs
