 "A still from Netflix's 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack'")
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack was the longest hijack in Indian aviation history. A classic geo-political show which shows our relationship with different countries – Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Strangely it was Afghanistan who played an important role in recusing the passengers. But why did they choose the Kathmandu flight? Were the terrorists aware that security was slack in this particular airport and hence they found it easy to board the flight with arms and armaments. It was Afghanistan who made a deal with the terrorists along with the Indian diplomats that nobody will be killed on the soil of Kandahar, Afghanistan.
Adapted from the book ‘Flight Into Fear’ by Captain Devi Sharan and Srinjoy Chowdhury, the series also captures the heart of negotiations, unveiling the intricate diplomacy within Delhi’s War Room and the tense exchanges at Kandahar’s Negotiation Station.
What was the deal made by the terrorists?
Five masked men hijacked the aircraft on 24 December 1999, 40 minutes after it took off from the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, bound for New Delhi. The hijackers forced the aircraft to land in multiple locations across South Asia and the Middle East before the crisis was resolved in Kandahar, Afghanistan, seven days later.
The hijackers had just one single aim and that was to free one of the most dangerous terrorists, Maulana Masood Azhar. Masood was jailed in India for more than four years. Netflix’s show mentions that Masood was sure that he will be freed and that was the entire reason that IC 814 was hijacked.
The five hijackers were identified as Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir. They belonged to Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), a Pakistan-based Islamist terror group.
Why was the Kandahar hijack a diplomatic failure?
There were constant negotiations that took place with the terrorists by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led Indian government. It wasn’t easy for anybody, the Indian diplomats, the government, the passengers stuck in IC 814, their families, the Captain and his crew. There were two school of thoughts, one that said that we should let the terrorists free and rescue the passengers. While there was another school of thought that felt that why would such dangerous terrorists left free. It was shown in the Vijay Varma starrer Netflix’s ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack ’ show that one of the veteran army officers pointing out that his son gave his life for the country to get hold of the terrorists. There were many Indian soldiers from the armed forces who had risked and given their life so that the terrorist cannot do any harm to India.
If we look at it dispassionately, many may say it wasn’t a wise move to free the dangerous terrorists to rescue the passengers of IC 814. The situation was indeed complex and it took days to come to a conclusion. There was again another school of thought that felt that Indian government should free the terrorist and rescue the passengers. Despite differences of opinion over releasing the prisoners, the government was pressured to negotiate, with the Taliban mediating between the government and the hijackers. After a lot of discussions and negotiations, the Indian government managed to convince the hijackers to release the hostages in exchange for three prisoners.
We get to know from Netflix’s ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack ’that one of the ministers very clearly said, “History will not see this very kindly that we left the militants.”
WATCH the trailer of Netflix’s ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ here:
Lachmi Deb Roy is the entertainment editor of Firtspost, Network18. She reviews films and series with a gender lens. Her interviews are called 'Not Just Bollywood' because she takes huge interest in world cinema. OTT over theatrical releases is her preference unless and until its a King Khan film. She takes interest in fashion, food and art reviews too.