The story of the 1999 Kandahar hijack, recently released on Netflix, has once again reminded the country of that heart-wrenching incident.
Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked by Pakistani terrorists and instead of Delhi, they took the plane to Kabul in Afghanistan via Amritsar, Lahore and Dubai.
For about eight days, the 179 passengers and crew members on board the plane were on tenterhooks. How did such a big incident like plane hijacking happen? And why despite the plane stopping for 50 minutes in Amritsar, the Indian security personnel could not capitalize on the opportunity and ultimately had to deal with the terrorists? The then chief of the intelligence agency RAW, Amarjit Singh Dulat, gave detailed information on this.
There is a nationwide controversy over the Pakistani terrorists being given Hindu names in the IC814 web series. There is also a demand to ban the series. Actually, the names of the terrorists in the series are Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola and Shankar.
There is a controversy over the names of the terrorists being named Bhola and Shankar. After the Home Ministry issued a summons in this matter, Netflix has clarified that they will quote the real names of the terrorists in the beginning. They will also inform that the terrorists used those names as code names.
It was a good deal for our situation
The series has reignited debates on several issues, including the handling of the situation by the government and various agencies. Speaking to India Today TV, former RAW chief AS Dulat recalled the Kandahar hijack incident and admitted that there were many mistakes in decision-making.
“When the plane landed in Amritsar, we had the opportunity to ensure that it did not leave Indian territory,” Dulat said.
But when it left Amritsar, there was no option but to deal with the terrorists. We did our best and according to our circumstances, it was a good deal with the terrorists.
We made a big mistake in Amritsar
He further said, “No decision has been taken. I have said this many times before, even when this incident happened.
A big mistake was made in Amritsar.” Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked by five terrorists on December 24, 1999, as soon as it entered Indian airspace.
The plane landed in Amritsar for refuelling and was parked there for 50 minutes. Despite this, the officials including Punjab Police and Central Intelligence forces were not able to gain any lead.
“We were all there and we should have taken a decision. I don’t want to name and blame anyone. After so many years, it’s not fair. I am as guilty as anyone else,” Dulat said.
What was discussed with Punjab DGP?
The former RAW chief spoke about his long conversation with the then Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sarabjit Singh on the hijacking situation. He said, “I spoke to the Punjab DGP, who told me that he is not KPS Gill and he is not going to put his job at stake. He said the chief minister (Parkash Singh Badal) has told him that he does not want bloodshed in Amritsar. Even Delhi was indicating the same. The DGP said they can attack the plane, but they do not know how many casualties there could be. So no one wanted to take a decision in the name of bloodshed.”
Punjab DGP had said- If Delhi gives orders, I will take action
Dulat said the Punjab police had to be told not to let the plane leave Amritsar, but that did not happen. Interestingly, DGP Sarabjit Singh had officially said that he would have taken a decision if he had received clear instructions from Delhi. To this, Dulat said, “I agree with him. But what he would have done, I don’t know. He was right when he said he was waiting for instructions from Delhi, which never happened.”
Role of ISI
When asked about ISI’s role in the plane hijacking, Dulat said that Pakistan’s intelligence agency was definitely involved in it.
He said, “There was definitely a role of ISI in this, there is no doubt about it. This has not been proved by our reports, but there was also a report from a Pakistani journalist who was in Kandahar. He told that the role of ISI and how it controlled the whole operation? This can be understood very clearly.”
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