A year after they were abducted by militants of the mysterious Al Faran, the fate of the four western tourists held hostage in the Valley is still uncertain. Security forces had been told by a top-ranking militant leader last month that they had been executed. But senior Hurriyat Conference leader Abdul Ghani Lone has lent a new twist to the bizarre drama by claiming the hostages are alive, and that his party is making efforts to secure their release.
Lone's statement is not without significance. This is the first time since the tourists were kidnapped on July 4 last year that the Hurriyat, an umbrella group of three dozen-odd secessionist outfits, has made a comment. Its stand so far had been that it could do nothing as it doubted the very credentials of the abductors. It even branded the Al Faran as "agents of India" for turning down repeated appeals for the release of the hostages and even beheading one of them.
The hostages, Donald Hutchings (US), Paul Well and Keith Monagan (UK), and Dirk Hasert (Germany), were abducted from a Pahalgam tourist resort with American John Childs and Hans Ostro Christian of Norway. Childs managed to escape just three days later, but Hans Ostro was not that lucky. His beheaded body was found on August 13 in a remote Anantnag village. Rumours had it that he was killed for attempting to flee.
The Al Faran, whose composition no one knew, demanded the release of a dozen-odd top militants—including top Harkatul Ansar functionaries Azhar Masood and Langriyal—in exchange for the hostages. The authorities refused point-blank. Contact was established with the abductors on wireless, and a senior police officer was deputed to negotiate with them. The dialogue continued for several months, without luck, and ended last December after a purported encounter in Dabran village of Anantnag, south Kashmir.
The Hurriyat gambit has presented a glimmer of hope. "We have reports that the hostages are alive," says Lone, adding that JKLF chief and Hurriyat colleague Yasin Malik had risked his life to get them freed. Lone alleges that the authorities, not liking the fact of Malik playing such a crucial role, made an attempt on his life through pro-government militants. "We have offered all our resources...in getting the hostages released without any harm," says Lone, blaming the authorities for making "our movements virtually impossible".
Both the authorities and western diplomats, camping in Srinagar since the abductions, are tightlipped. But sources say the Hurriyat has made some headway in negotiating with the captors for the hostages' release, though "it's not going to be that easy". The recent attack on Malik by renegades is seen as a reaction to his role in this process.
The Al Faran, still a faceless outfit, has been silent for seven months now, thus deepening the mystery revolving around the hostages. The last one heard from the captors was in mid-December, when they claimed the Army had taken away the hostages after the Dabran encounter. In the fierce gunfight that purportedly took place in that tiny village in severe cold, the Al Faran lost its chief commander, Abdul Hamid Turki. Denials came promptly, and there has been no word from the Al Faran since.
Last month, massive search and digging operations were ordered in some south Kashmir villages, following reports that the Al Faran executed the hostages after the Dabran encounter. Nazar Mohd 'Masood', a Harkatul Ansar leader arrested two months earlier, reportedly told interrogators that the hostages had been "possibly executed": he had heard this from a person "close to Al Faran". This was leaked to the press, leading to a spate of reports in the West. The search, however, was called off after two weeks, as no clue was found.
The state intelligence believes the hostages are alive and safe. One source says the abducted tourists were sighted last month in a south Kashmir village. That, with Lone's statement, is what gives new hope in the otherwise sombre drama.
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