Kandhar Hijack: There is a lot of controversy over the web series on Kandahar hijack on Netflix. It tells how Indian Airlines flight IC 814 was hijacked in 1999. This series is also in controversy because questions have been raised on how the government and various agencies handled the situation after the hijacking. Now the former RAW chief himself has told where the mistakes were made during the hijacking of IC 814.
According to a report by India Today, Amarjit Singh Dulat, who was the chief of Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) in 1999, has admitted that there were ‘mistakes’ in decision-making. Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked by five terrorists as soon as it entered Indian airspace on December 24, 1999. The plane landed in Amritsar for refuelling and remained stranded for 50 minutes. Despite this, officials including Punjab Police and central intelligence forces could not take advantage of it.
There was a mess in Amritsar: Former RAW chief
Former RAW chief AS Dulat said, “When the plane landed in Amritsar, we had the opportunity to ensure that it did not leave Indian territory. But when the plane left Amritsar, we had no choice but to make a deal with the hijackers. We tried to make the best deal with the best negotiators.”
AS Dulat further said, “No decision has been taken. I have said this many times before, even when this incident happened. There was a mess in Amritsar.” He said, “We were all there and we should have taken a decision. I don’t want to blame. After so many years, it is not right to do so. I am as guilty as anyone else.”
Delhi did not take the decision to avoid bloodshed: Former RAW chief
The former RAW chief also spoke about his long conversation with the then Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Sarabjit Singh on the hijacking. He said, “I had a long conversation with the Punjab DGP. He told me that he is not KPS Gill and he is not going to put his job at stake. He said that the Chief Minister (Parkash Singh Badal) told him that he does not want bloodshed in Amritsar.
AS Dulat further told about his conversation with Sarabjit Singh, “Delhi was also indicating the same thing. The DGP said that they can attack the plane but they do not know how many people can be killed, so he did not want to take any decision in the name of bloodshed.”
Dulat said it was necessary to tell the Punjab police that the plane should not leave Amritsar, which did not happen. Interestingly, DGP Sarabjit Singh had said on record that if he had received clear instructions from Delhi, he would have taken a decision. To this, the former RAW chief says, “I agree with him, but I don’t know what he would have done. He was right when he said he was waiting for instructions from Delhi, which never happened.”
Did ISI have a role in the hijacking?
At the same time, when the former RAW chief was asked what was the role of Pakistan’s intelligence agency ISI in the hijacking? He said that ISI was definitely involved in it. Dulat said, “ISI definitely had a role in this, there is no doubt about it. This has not come out from our reports, but there was also a report from a Pakistani journalist who was in Kandahar at that time. He told that anyone can clearly understand the role of ISI and how it controlled the entire operation.”