Gandhi heads for clash over plane hijack

Press, 28 August 1984, Page 6

Gandhi heads for clash over plane hijack

NZPA-Reuter New Delhi The Indian Prime Minister, Mrs Indira Gandhi, and opposition parties headed yesterday for a confrontation in Parliament over the hijacking of an Indian airliner by Sikh separatists. Mrs Gandhi has rejected opposition allegations that adequate security at air6orts would have prevented le hijacking. The seven hijackers released their hostages in Dubai, one of the seven Persian Gulf countries that make up the United Arab Emirates, and surrendered at the week-end. Opposition members were expected to renew attacks on Mrs Gandhi during possibly the last sitting of the Lower House before national elections, political analysts said.

They noted that Mrs Gandhi’s Government said it woujd step up security at airports after the hijack of another Indian airliner last month. In a move to defuse another controversial issue, Mrs Gandhi yesterday replaced with a close political aide the Andhra Pradesh state governor, Ram Lal. The governor’s dismissal of the Chief Minister, N. T. Rama Rao, sparked violent protests in which 25 people died. The opposition has charged that Mrs Gandhi had engineered Mr Rao’s “undemocratic” dismissal. It demanded Mr Lai’s removal at meetings attended by thousands of people across the country during a day of protest on Friday. Bombs exploded near Cal-

cutta, several trains were cancelled, and about 50,000 people were rounded up during the protests. Replying to opposition charges that she would use the unrest as an excuse to postpone the General Elections due by January, Mrs Gandhi said, “Elections will be held on the due date.” Several political commentators expect her to hold an early vote in mid-November in an attempt to retain power until 1990. A Parliamentary affairs spokesman told Reuters that India’s Lower House of Parliament, where Mrs Gandhi sits, ends its session today and normally would not meet again until late November. The Upper House oi Parliament is likely to end its session tomorrow.