The recently released web series 'IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack' has been mired in controversies. As the controversy escalated, the Government of India summoned Monica Shergill, Netflix's content head. After this, Monica Shergill met Sanjay Jaju, Secretary of, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. After the meeting, Netflix issued a statement and also informed about the changes in the series.
What is IC-814?
Flight IC-814 was an Airbus 300 aircraft. On 24 December 1999, this flight was scheduled to take off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi. By around four o'clock in the evening, all the passengers had boarded the plane. By 4.39 pm, this plane had reached Indian airspace. On March 15, 2000, the then Minister of State for External Affairs Ajit Kumar Panja stated in Parliament and put all aspects of the plane hijacking incident before the House. According to the statement, Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked on December 24 at 04:53 pm. The plane was scheduled to fly from Kathmandu to Delhi on December 24. At 04:56, Air Traffic Control, (ATC) Delhi received the first information about the hijacking. During that time it was told that the hijackers were saying that the plane should be taken to Lahore. However, due to not allowing landing from Lahore ATC, the plane landed at Amritsar airport at 07 pm.
What happened to IC-814 in Amritsar?
As soon as it landed at Amritsar airport at 07 pm, the hijackers demanded to refuel the plane. During this time the engine of the plane kept running. When the hijackers were asked to turn off the engine for refueling, they refused to do so. At 07:49 pm the plane was forced to take off from Amritsar without refueling by the hijackers. This was also without the permission of ATC Amritsar.
How did IC-814 reach Dubai?
After taking off from Amritsar, the plane once again headed towards Lahore. At 08:01 pm, the plane landed in Lahore, Pakistan. Lahore ATC allowed the plane to land when the pilot told ATC Lahore that he would have to crash-land the plane due to the fuel running out. The plane was refueled in Lahore. At 10:32 pm, the plane took off for Kabul. It was informed from Kabul that there was no facility for landing there at night. In such a situation, the plane left for landing at the Air Force base in Dubai and it landed at the Air Force base at 01:32 am on 25 December 1999.
How did the terrorists release some passengers in Dubai?
According to the government's reply in Parliament, the Indian ambassador was constantly in touch with the UAE officials. After talks between the UAE officials and the hijackers, the release of 27 passengers was ensured. These passengers included women and children. A passenger named Rupin Katyal was stabbed by the kidnappers who later died. Rupin's body was also landed here. Then they were brought back to India on 25 December in a special aircraft by the Civil Aviation Minister.
How did the plane reach Kandahar? What happened in Kandahar?
On 25 December 1999, the plane took off from Dubai at 06:20 am and landed at Kandahar airport in Afghanistan at 08:33 am. On 1 March 2000, Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh told the House that officials of the ministries concerned with the matter were immediately sent to Kandahar to deal with the situation. The officials started negotiations with the hijackers. The first formal demand from the terrorists was also made only after reaching Kandahar. The hijackers wanted the release of terrorist Masood Azhar, who was lodged in an Indian jail, in exchange for releasing 10 Indian and five foreign passengers. Azhar was arrested by Indian agencies in 1994. Attempts had been made earlier also to free this terrorist who worked at the behest of Pakistani intelligence agency ISI. In July 1995, terrorists kidnapped six foreign tourists from Pahalgam and demanded the release of Azhar in return. The terrorists were not successful in their plans then.
Let us return to the story of IC-184. The first demand of the terrorists was rejected by the Indian government. In his reply in the House, Jaswant Singh had said that at that time the government had told both the Taliban and the hijackers that until the hijackers give a complete and clear description of their demands, none of their demands will be met.
After this, on the advice of the Taliban, the hijackers gave a complete list of their demands. In this list, they demanded the release of 36 terrorists including Masood Azhar lodged in Indian jails, the body of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) terrorist Sajjad Afghani who was killed, and 200 million US dollars. After the foreign minister made these demands public, the Taliban advised the hijackers that their demands for money and the body of Sajjad Afghani were unIslamic. So the hijackers dropped their demands.
India then said that the demand for the release of terrorists was also un-Islamic but the Taliban did not pressurise the hijackers. The hijackers then insisted that Masood Azhar be released in exchange for 15 hostages and others whom the hijackers wished to release. This too was rejected by the government. Finally, a package was prepared for the release of all the hostages. The government agreed to release three terrorists Masood Azhar, Mushtaq Zargar, and Omar Sheikh.
Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh himself went to Kandahar to ensure that the hijacking was concluded and the safe release and return of the passengers and crew without any last-minute hurdles. Also, quick decisions could be taken on the spot, if needed. The passengers and crew members who were held hostage on the evening of 31 December 1999 reached Delhi the same evening by two special flights. The hijacked plane IC-814 was brought back to New Delhi on 1 January 2000 at 12:22 am.
What about the three terrorists released by the government?
After his release, Masood Azhar reorganized the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed. Azhar's terrorist organization inflicted many wounds on India after 1999. This dreaded terrorist was named in the attack on the Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001, the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008, and the attack on the Pathankot airbase in January 2016. Masood Azhar was the mastermind of the attack on the CRPF convoy in Pulwama in February 2019. More than 40 of our soldiers sacrificed their lives in this attack.
Similarly, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is a suspect in the terrorist attack in Anantnag in 2019. Five CRPF soldiers were martyred in this attack. Zargar was also involved in the grenade attack in Kashmir in 2017.
The third terrorist Umar Sheikh was released by the government in 1999. He became infamous after the murder of Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. Sheikh had killed Pearl by slitting his throat. A sensation was created by releasing a video of this.
What was the name of the terrorists who hijacked the plane?
After the hijack crisis was over, on 6 January 2000, the Home Ministry stated IC-814. In this statement, the government had given details about the hijackers. In this statement, it was told that Mumbai Police along with intelligence agencies arrested four ISI agents from Mumbai. All these were the aides of the five hijackers. These terrorists Mohammad Rehan, Mohammad Iqbal, Yusuf Nepali, and Abdul Latif told the agency that all the hijackers were Pakistanis. Their names were Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Saeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistry Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir.
What is the controversy over addressing them by the names Bhola and Shankar?
In a statement issued by the Home Ministry on 6 January 200, it was told that the passengers present in the hijacked plane knew these terrorists by the names Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar. The hijackers were calling each other by these names during the entire incident. The hijackers have been given these names in the Netflix web series as well. After the controversy, Netflix issued a statement and informed about the change in the disclaimer of 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack'. He also added the real names of the hijackers who hijacked the plane.
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