When IC-814 Hijackers Demanded Terrorist’s Body In Exchange For Hostages

At 4.53 pm on December 24, 1999, Indian Airlines’ flight IC-814 took off from Kathmandu for Delhi. A two-hour long flight lasted almost eight days when terrorists of Pakistan-based outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM) hijacked the Airbus A300 aircraft. The last day of the 20th century was indeed one of the most challenging for the then-Atal Bihar Vajpayee-led government.

What Were Their Demands?

The aircraft landed in Amritsar, then in Lahore, and later diverted to Dubai, finally landing in Taliban-controlled Kandahar in Afghanistan on December 25 at 8:33 am. The situation was not in India’s control and it was time for negotiation with the hijackers. A team of officials, including current National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, from relevant ministries were sent to Afghanistan to negotiate.

Then-Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh, in the Lok Sabha, gave details of what the terrorists wanted and how negotiations were carried out. Mr Singh said, “The Taliban advised the hijackers to give their full demands whereupon the hijackers demanded the release of 36 terrorists in our custody, the coffin of a dead terrorist, Sajjad Afghani, and a sum of US $200 million.”

The minister made the demands public and the Taliban advised the hijackers that demands for money and the coffin of Sajjad Afghani were un-Islamic. They changed the deal and insisted that Masood Azhar be released in exchange for 15 hostages, a demand which was again rejected by the negotiators.

But before their final demands, Mr Singh said, “The first formal demand made by the hijackers to our officials in Kandahar was the release of terrorist Masood Azhar in exchange for the release of 10 Indians and 5 foreign hostages. This piecemeal approach was rejected by the Government. Both the Taliban and the hijackers were informed that until there was a full and unambiguous detailing of demands, there could be no talks.”