As captives return home, Japan debates public responsibility

As the first group of freed hostages are now back in Japan, the initial reaction is obviously a sense of relief. Until then Japan was at a state of shock, more because of a video footage that was distributed through Internet containing the chilling scene of knife waving masked men terrorizing Japanese captives sitting on the floor of a darkened room at an unknown location. The ordeal of the hostages dragged on as the Japanese government flatly rejected the demand of hostage takers to withdraw country's Self Defense Forces (SDF) from Iraq, saying this would mean bending to the threats of terrorism. Meanwhile, family members of the three hostages were spending busy days in Tokyo lobbying the government for a possible face saving solution for the administration that would also save the lives of those held in captivity. As the crisis has by now been overcome due to the partial goodwill gesture of the Iraqis who backed down from their earlier demand, the focus in Japan has now shifted to a new debate over the responsibility of citizens concerning any decision taken by individuals or by a group that might run contrary to official advisory announcements and place them in harms way.

Even before the hostages were released, and even at a time when nothing was known of their whereabouts, some people in Japan started a naked campaign accusing the families of hostages for showing utter 'lack of responsibility' by allowing family members to visit Iraq ignoring the advice of the government that called on the people to refrain from making any such trip due to worsening security situation. Most of the attacks were through e-mails sent to the web page that has been hastily launched to make an appeal for their release. Some went even further to accuse the captives for disturbing the peaceful life that they were leading.

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As a result, by the time the family members spoke at a press conference for the foreign press stationed in Tokyo on Wednesday, the utter shock had compelled them even not to mention about their earlier call on the government to consider the possibility of SDF withdrawal form Iraq to ensure that the three hostages were not killed. At the press conference too, the accusing tone prevailed as some journalists took the same line as the bashers in the web page, provoking the sister of the captive woman to remind the press that her sister responded to the call that she felt deep in her heart and went to Iraq to help the utterly destitute street children who are now in extreme difficulty due to war and random killings and also for the lack of almost everything needed for normal human existence. It was not a pleasure trip, neither a morale boosting, cautious short visit by any occupation leadership realised through extremely alert security arrangements.

With the return of the hostages, the debate is now taking a new shape as more sludge is being directed towards those who are back home after spending seven critical days when everything could have happened to them. The situation has become further complicated as the two of the three released Japanese made it clear that they intend to return to Iraq soon.

Despite the weeklong ordeal, two of the three Japanese said they want to continue working in Iraq. Nahoko Takato, the female hostage, said on al-Jazeera television that despite the shocking memory of being kidnapped, she could not bring herself to hate Iraqis and hinted that she would like to return to Iraq to continue her work of helping street children who lovingly call her 'mummy'. Another freed Japanese hostage, Soichiro Koriyama, also indicated that he too was ready to go back to Iraq again.

Such statements made Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi angry and he didn't hide his frustration as he said that he hoped those who ignored the official advisories against traveling to Iraq would think seriously about their actions. Some within the ruling coalition went further by criticising the families for costing the government a bundle to deal with the crisis. Fukushiro Nugaka, Chairman of the main ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Policy Research Council, even called for a legislation banning Japanese from traveling to Iraq. Others from the ruling camp want the released hostages and their families to cover the amount of taxpayers' money used in the government's efforts to secure their release. The junior partner in the ruling coalition, the Buddhist fundamentalist group Komeito, wants the government to make public the amount spent in dealing with the hostage situation, although keeping absolute silence over the other expenditure, which is the daily amount the Japanese government is spending now to sustain its troops in the dangerous battlefields in Iraq.

But fortunately not all politicians in Japan are as heartless as some in the ruling camp have proved themselves to be. The opposition camp as well as some within the ruling block blame the government more for risking the lives of country's citizens and making them vulnerable to kidnapping by sending troops to Iraq. As the hostage crisis was playing out, the opposition parties stayed in the shadow. Now that all Japanese hostages have been released without making any political demand on the government, they are likely to renew their call for the withdrawal of SDF from Iraq. As the campaign for a pull out now is not to be seen as bending to the demands of the kidnappers, and also as the security situation in Iraq is deteriorating fast, it provides the opposition camp a chance to make an honest assessment on the ground. And they now look ready to use the opportunity to shift Diet debate to whether the SDF should be kept in Iraq at present troops level.