Foreign Minister Jaishankar is on a two-day visit to Switzerland. During this, while addressing the Indian community in Geneva, he narrated an incident related to the IC 421 plane hijack in 1984. Jaishankar told that he was part of the team that was dealing with the hijackers. Jaishankar said, 3-4 hours after the hijack, I called my mother and told her that the plane has been hijacked, I cannot come home. Then I also came to know that my father was in that flight. Jaishankar said that on one hand I was in the team that was dealing with the hijackers. At the same time, I was also in the team of those family members who were putting pressure on the government. In fact, during a program in Geneva, Jaishankar was questioned about the controversy over the Netflix series IC 184 made on the Kandahar hijack in 1999. To this, Jaishankar said that he has not seen the series. Therefore, he cannot comment on it. 7 Sikh youths had hijacked the plane
On 24 August 1984, Indian Airlines flight IC 421 took off from Chandigarh to Jammu. 7 separatist Sikh youths also boarded this plane from Chandigarh. Shortly after the plane took off, these youths hijacked it. All these youths were angry with Operation Blue Star. There were 100 people on board the hijacked plane, including Foreign Minister Jaishankar’s father K. Subramaniam. The hijackers had asked the pilot of the plane, VK Mehta, to take the plane to Amritsar and circle the Golden Temple. After this, the pilot obeyed the hijackers and circled the Golden Temple twice. The hijackers had taken the plane to Pakistan
The hijackers had taken the plane to Lahore in Pakistan. But the Lahore Airport Authority did not give permission to land the plane. After this, the plane remained in the air for a long time. Later, when the plane’s fuel started running low, the pilot asked the airport authority for permission for an emergency landing. After which the officials allowed the plane to land. After refueling at Lahore airport, the hijackers asked the plane to be taken to America. However, the pilot told the hijackers that this plane is for a domestic flight and hence cannot go to America. After this, the hijackers said that the plane should be taken to Bahrain. But after the pilot’s refusal, the plane was taken to Dubai. The plane made an emergency landing in Dubai, where the hijackers surrendered after talks with Indian officials.
