mahipalrathore

mahipalrathore
mahipalrathore

mahipalrathore

Dr. Mahipal Singh Rathore

MAHIPAL
MAHIPAL
 Why is it relevant now?
• At that time, Afghanistan was under Taliban control.

• When the hijacked plane landed at Kandahar Airport, Taliban

militiamen fighters encircled the aircraft to prevent any Indian
military intervention.

• India had no diplomatic relations with the then Taliban govt.

 On 24th December 1999, Indian
Airlines Flight 814, commonly known
as IC 814,
from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi,
was hijacked.

It was flown to several locations before landing in Kandahar,

Afghanistan.

The hostage crisis lasted for seven days.

Kandahar
The Hijacking
24 December 1999 – Indian Airlines flight IC 814 took off
from Kathmandu, Nepal, with Delhi as its intended destination.

The flight left with 180 persons on board, including both the crew
and the passengers.
• The hijackers instructed Captain Devi Sharan to, "fly west", and
accordingly the flight entered Pakistani air space.

Denied permission to land in Lahore, by the Pakistani Air Traffic

Control.

• On being told that there was insufficient fuel to go further, the

hijackers allowed to land the flight in Amritsar, to refuel.
4:40 pm – Air Traffic Control (ATC) in India first received news of
the hijacking.

6:04 pm – the Indian ATC made contact with flight IC 814, but had
not received any orders on how to proceed.

6:30 pm – The Indian High Commission in Pakistan requested

permission for the plane to land there, but was denied.

6:44 pm – The flight began descent over the Amritsar.

On landing, IC 814 requested immediate refuelling for the aircraft.

At this point, the hijackers threatened to execute the passengers,

if refuelling was delayed.

Difficult choice before Indian authorities –

1. Send in commandoes and confront the terrorists (risk to
passengers’ life).
2. Allow quick refuelling (risk of handing over the bargaining power
to terrorists).
• The Crisis Management Group of the Indian Government, led
by Union Secretary Prabhat Kumar, did not convene on
receiving the news that the plane had been hijacked.

• Information concerning the hijacking was not communicated

at that time to the Intelligence Bureau or the Research and
Analysis Wing.

• The then-Prime Minister of India, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was

briefed regarding the incident at 7:00 pm.
Between landing and take-off again at 7:50 pm –
Captain informed ATC that the hijackers were armed with
Kalashnikov rifles and had begun killing hostages.

• Requested them to refuel the plane as fast as possible to

prevent any additional deaths.

• The hijackers had refused to communicate with local police

officials while the plane was in Amritsar.
• Local officials were instructed to delay the refuelling of the
plane for as long as possible.
7:45 pm – Punjab Police Commandos were placed on standby.

They were ordered by the Crisis Management Group to

accompany the fuel-reloading vehicles towards the plane, with
the intention of deflating the plane tires in order to immobilize
the plane.

A fuel tanker was sent to block the aircraft's path but was
ordered by the ATC to slow down as the driver was approaching
the plane at a high speed.

On receiving this order, the tanker came to an abrupt halt.

• This approach caused the hijackers to suspect that the
refuelling process would prevent their departure.

• They ordered Captain Sharan to take off immediately,

resulting in the plane narrowly avoiding hitting the fuel tanker
on the runway.

• The plane left Amritsar at 7:49 pm

 Touchdown Lahore
• On approaching Lahore, Pakistan, Flight IC 814 requested
permission to land and was denied by Pakistani ATC.

• Pakistani ATC turned off all lights and navigational aids at

the airport to prevent a landing.
• As the plane had not been
refuelled in Amritsar, and was
running out of fuel, Captain
Sharan attempted to crash-land
without navigational aids and
lights, nearly landing on a
highway.

Following this, Pakistani ATC

turned on navigational aids and
allowed the plane to land in
Lahore at 8:07 pm.
• India Requested Pakistani authorities to ensure that the
plane did not leave Lahore.

Pakistani forces turned off runway lights again to prevent the

plane from departing after it had been refuelled, and
surrounded the plane with special forces commandos.

They also attempted to negotiate with the hijackers to

release women and children aboard the flight, but were
denied.
The Indian High Commissioner, G. Parthasarthy, was
provided with a helicopter but only arrived in Lahore after
Flight IC 814 had been refuelled and allowed to leave.
 Touchdown Dubai
• The aircraft took off for Dubai (about 1,250 miles distance)
• Al Minhad Air Base, Dubai.
• 1ST HOSTAGE death - Rupin Katyal had been stabbed by the hijackers
• Indian authorities wanted Indian commandos trained in hijack
rescue to assault the aircraft but the UAE government refused
permission – Indian Ambassador not allowed inside air base
• Diplomatic failure?
• 27 elderly/sick passengers aboard the flight were released.
After taking off from Dubai, the plane headed to
Taliban ruled Afghanistan.
 Touchdown Kandahar
• After the aircraft landed in Kandahar, Taliban authorities offered
to mediate between India and the hijackers.

• Since India did not recognise the Taliban regime, it dispatched an

official from its High Commission in Islamabad to Kandahar.

• India's lack of previous contact with the Taliban regime

complicated the negotiating process.
However, the intention of the Taliban was
under doubt after its armed fighters
surrounded the aircraft.
• The Taliban maintained that the forces were deployed in an
attempt to dissuade the hijackers from killing or injuring the
hostages.
• However, analysts believe it was done to prevent an Indian
military operation against the hijackers.

• Indian plan – Negotiate for hostages and Stop the Escape of

Hijackers
 Negotiations

December 25 and 26, 1999 – India discussed their approach

to negotiations internally, while passengers on board Flight
IC 814 awaited a decision.

*Passengers received irregular meals and had limited access to

drinking water and sanitation facilities.

A flying Suicide mission?

Bomb blast?
Kill all hostages?
Home Minister L. K. Advani had opposed
exchanging the hostages for release of the
hijackers, as this would affect public opinion of
the government.

On the other hand,

External Affairs Minister
Jaswant Singh advocated
negotiation with the
Taliban.
December 27 – The Indian government sent a team of negotiators
headed by Vivek Katju, Joint-Secretary in the Ministry of Home
Affairs, along with Home Ministry official Ajit Doval and S.D. Sahay
from the Cabinet Secretariat.

Negotiations did not progress, as Taliban officials initially refused

to allow Indian special forces to attempt a covert operation, and
declined to allow their own special forces to do so as well.
December 27 – A Taliban official speaking to a local newspaper
stated that the hijackers should either leave Afghanistan or put
down their weapons.

Indian officials interpreted this statement as an understanding

that Taliban officials would arrest the hijackers if they
surrendered, and began to negotiate with them concerning their
demands.
 The Demands fulfilled
The terrorists demanded the release of 36 prisoners and 200 million
USD , but was ultimately reduced during negotiations to three
prisoners:

These prisoners were then being held in Kashmiri jails.

CM Farooq Abdullah was opposed to releasing the prisoners,

warning of the long-term consequences, but eventually agreed to
the demands of the centre.
Maulana Masood Azhar –

Founded Jaish-e-Muhammed in
2000, which gained notoriety for
its alleged role in the 2001 Indian
Parliament attack and 2008
Mumbai attacks, and the 2019
Pulwama Attack which led to the
death of 44 CRPF personnel.
Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh –

Sheikh had been imprisoned in

connection with the 1994 Kidnappings
of Western tourists in India, went on to
murder Daniel Pearl and also allegedly
played a significant role in planning
the September 11 attacks in the United
States.

He was arrested in 2002 by

Pakistani authorities for
the abduction and
murder of Daniel Pearl.
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar –

He has played an active role

since release in training Islamic
militants in Pakistan occupied
Jammu & Kashmir.
Why Jaswant Singh?

• Senior Minister
• Close to PM
• On the spot decisions
 ROLE OF PAKISTAN and ISI
• The then-IB chief Ajit Doval claimed that the hijackers were
getting active ISI support in Kandahar
• ISI had removed all the pressure the Indians were trying to
put on the hijackers - that their safe exit was guaranteed and
they had no need to negotiate an escape route.
• Relatives of the 3 terrorists were brought to Kandahar to
‘identify’ them.
• The hostages were allowed to deboard the plane by the
hijackers, and the hijackers had also surrendered their
weapons.

• However, instead of arresting the hijackers and the three

prisoners who had been handed over to them, Taliban
authorities drove them to the Afghanistan-Pakistan border,
to Quetta in Pakistan.

• The five Pakistani hijackers were later identified as Ibrahim

Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri
Zahoor Ibrahim and Shakir.
QUESTIONS ?
Lives of 155 Innocent citizens or 3 terrorists?

Relations with a rogue government?

Policy for Hijack negotiations?

The Anti-Hijacking Act, 2016