Worst Capitulation To Terrorists In India's Modern History: KANDAHAR 1999

In 1999, just a day before Christmas, a flight of INDIAN ALIRLINES named IC-814 took off from Kathmandu and was about to land in Delhi. The distance between Kathmandu and Delhi was to be covered in 1 hour and 40 minutes, but the passengers and crew did not know they would never get to their original destination. This was the biggest and the last hijacking in the history of India. 

GROUNDWORK :

This hijacking was done to get Masood Azhar Alvi, Syed Omar Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar bailed from Indian Jail. In 1998, Abdul Latif was asked to release Masood Azhar Alvi from jail, but he wasn't successful. The planning for this hijacking was started in 1998. In 1999, 5 people named Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Shahid Sayeed Akhtar, Zahoor Ibrahim Mistri and Shakir rented an apartment in Dhaka. Ibrahim Athar suggested a plan that it's easy enough to hijack it from Kathmandu as no passport is required to travel to Nepal; they need valid id proof. Abdul Latif was sent to India to get fake id proof for all the assassins, and he was successful in doing that in just two months. According to their names, A A Shaikh, S A Qazi, Doctor, Bhola, and Shankar. They had three grenades and three revolvers with them. On December 13th, all hijackers met at Kathmandu zoo for the final touch to the planning. The planning was that Athar would be going with Class 13 (guns), and their security signals would be sent to the rest as soon as he passed.

SEQUENTIAL EPISODES :

On the day of the hijacking, as the plane took off, the passengers and crew members had no idea that their journey would take an unexpected turn. Suddenly, four men wearing masks stood up and announced that the plane had been hijacked. They then made their way to the cockpit, where they pointed a gun at Captain Devi Sharan and forced him to fly towards the west. It was later revealed that the hijackers belonged to a terrorist group named Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, founded by Masood Azhar in 1998. This Islamic Jihad group was primarily active in Kashmir and aimed to create instability in the region.

The Indian Air Traffic Control was acquainted with the hijacking at 4:40 pm. The Indian government was notified of the hijacking at 5:20 pm, and news of the incident was brought to the attention of then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Shockingly, Sarabjit Singh (then- Director General Of Police, Punjab) learned about the incident at 6:00 pm through television rather than any authority. At 6:04 pm, Indian traffic control tried to communicate with the flight, and Captain Devi Sharan conveyed the current fuel situation and the hijackers' demand to land in Pakistan, which was again denied by air traffic control. At 6:30 pm, the Indian High Commission in Pakistan requested Pakistani Authorities to let it land in Lahore, but it was denied again. Until then, Captain Sharan tried convincing the hijackers, successfully landed the plane in Amritsar, and refuelled it. At 6:44 pm, the plane starts to descend towards Amritsar. This crisis could have ended IF the actions had been more spontaneous and strategic. But it turned out to be a faux pas. Let's decode the blunders. At 7:01 pm, the IC-814 flight landed in Amritsar and requested to refuel it. Shockingly, Sarabjit Singh (then- Director General Of Police, Punjab) got to know about the incident through television rather than through any authority. A Crisis Management group and a local committee were formed to delay the flight strategically but failed drastically, leading to the attack of a passenger named Satnam Singh, the flight remained unfuelled, and they took off at 7:49 pm. A message has been sent to the ATC (Air Traffic Control) by Captain that "WE ALL ARE DYING". The pilots asked Pakistan Air Control to let them land in Lahore, but the request was denied. The pilots were so desperate that they tried to land in Lahore despite the constant denial from the authority. This desperation could have cost a lot because they were mistakenly about to land the plane on an active highway, but they realised this and aborted the landing. 

According to the sources, only a knife was seen with the terrorist first, and then a package containing weapons was passed at the Lahore Airport. At 10:32 pm, the flight took off for the second destination, DUBAI. KC SINGH ( INDIAN AMBASSADOR ) convinced the Dubai authorities to land, and the flight landed at Al Minhad Airbase. By this time, one passenger was already killed, and others were seriously injured.,

The passengers and crew members were held hostage for several days, during which negotiations took place to try and bring the ordeal to an end. Finally, after nearly a week of uncertainty, the hijackers released the passengers and crew members, and the plane was allowed to land in Dubai. Zahoor Mistry brutally murdered a passenger named Rupin Katyal. Twenty-seven members were allowed to go, and the dead body of Rupin Katyal was dumped there. Indian Authority requested UAE to allow Indian special forces to conduct an operation but denied it. Even KC SINGH couldn't glance at the aircraft, but Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan allowed CNN to telecast the scene. 

The flight again took off to reach its final destination and Militant haven- KHANDHAR, Afghanistan. As the flight landed, the Taliban militants surrounded the plane and said they would provide security and keep an eye on the hijackers. Still, the actual cause was to prevent any military operations and provide a suitable environment for the hijackers to run away. Surprisingly Taliban came forward and acted as a mediator in the negotiation between hijackers and the Indian government, but it was all an act to attract the International media. 

 

NEGOTIATIONS:

New Delhi determined that the five hijackers belonged to Harkat-Ul-Mujhaideen, which has ties to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

On December 26, Prime Minister Vajpayee boldly told reporters, "My government will not yield to such terrorism."

 The hijackers ordered the release of Pakistani terrorist Maulana Massoud Azhar, secretary of the terrorist group, and his 35 other militants. A $200 million ransom was also required.

A New Delhi decision-maker caught in a shootout of hostage relatives. Every day added more pressure. Prime Minister Vajpayee, a devastated man with few cards, agreed to send a negotiating team to Afghanistan led by Ajit Dvar, head of the Intelligence Service (IB) and future national security adviser.

To gain international recognition, Taliban officials agreed to cooperate, acting as an intermediary between the hijackers and the Indian government. Miraculously, they stopped the kidnappers from asking for money and reduced the number of rebels released from 36 to 3.

On December 28, a 40-minute high-level ministerial meeting was held.

Prime Minister Vajpayee prioritises the safety of the hostages according to a "rational actor model" and agrees to release his three terrorists in exchange for about 160 passengers. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh is to accompany the terrorists to Afghanistan to return the hostages.

INQUIRY:

On inquiring, among ten culprits, 7 of them are still free and living in Pakistan. Abdul Latif, Yusuf Nepali, Dilip Kumar Bhujel was convicted to life imprisonment by Patiala House Court.

AFTEREFFECT OF THE HIJACKING:

Maulana Masood Azhar was one of the three released terrorists. He formed a terrorist organisation named JAISH-E-MOHAMMED in 2000. This organisation was responsible for the further attacks like 

2001 INDIAN PARLIAMENT ATTACK, 2016 PATHANKOT AIRBASE ATTACK, 2016 URI ATTACK, 2019 PULWAMA ATTACK, USA 9/11 ATTACK. Ahmed Omar Saeed was convicted of death sentence in 2002 under US pressure, but the decision is still delayed, and he is still living in Karachi jail. Mushtaq Zargar runs a military camp in Kashmir. 

Jaish-e- Mohammed is a national security threat to India. It promotes and finances terrorist activities in Kashmir even today.

CONCLUSION:

The hijacking of Flight IC 814 was a shocking and traumatic event with far-reaching consequences. It highlighted the growing threat of terrorism in the region and underscored the need for more robust security measures in the aviation industry. It also profoundly impacted the lives of the passengers and crew members who were taken hostage, many of whom still carry the emotional scars of the ordeal.

 SOURCES:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1unoB93xeeQ

 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/topic/ic-814?from=mdr

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-qA9KqAtto