Media distorted my observations: Advani

Seeking to wriggle out of the political embarrassment over his remarks on the release of terrorists by the National Democratic Alliance government in the wake of Kandahar hijack, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Sunday put the blame on media saying that it had 'distorted' his observations and created a 'needless controversy.'

"I had said it was a considered decision of the government to bring the hostages back and what Jaswant Singh (the then External Affairs Minister) did was to implement government's collective decision," he said.

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Advani was reacting to reporters' questions on his Pune remarks last week that appeared to indicate that he opposed the release of three dreaded terrorists, including Masood Azhar, in exchange for passengers of an Indian Airlines plane hijacked to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

"Whatever my opinion was, I had expressed it within the Cabinet. I do not want to share it with the media. In any case, it is an old issue and there is no need to discuss it now," Advani said.

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He made it clear there was no comparison between NDA government's decision six years ago and the recent unanimous resolution passed by the Kerala Assembly seeking release of Coimbatore blast accused Abdul Nazir Madani from a Tamil Nadu jail.

"The fundamental difference between the two cases is obvious to any unbiased person. In one case, the Congress and Communists have sought the release of a person facing trial in an act of terrorism that killed 58 innocent citizens. In the other case, the BJP-led government had to release three terrorists only to save lives of 166 passengers aboard a hijacked plane," Advani said.

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The decision of the Kerala assembly was purely for the sake of 'vote bank' politics in view of assembly polls there, he said.