IC 814 pilot, Captain Devi Sharan opened up about holding one regret about the December 1999 hijack. It has been almost 25 years since the hijack took place. The incident has returned to light after Netflix released its new series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, directed by Anubhav Sinha. The hijackers held 179 passengers and 11 crew members. One of the passengers was killed during the siege.
Looking back at the incident, Devi Sharan said that he wished the lone fatility wouldn’t have happened. “The aircraft was there for 49 minutes. I had expected the plane to be stopped at Amritsar. But it did not happen. I was forced to take off by the hijackers. They slit the throats of three passengers (one of whom died),” he recalled, while speaking with The Telegraph.
“If that passenger could have been saved, I would have been more happy. After all these years, I feel losing the passenger was a very sad thing. As commander of the flight, I feel the passengers, who pay for flying safely, should not be harmed at all,” Sharan added.
For the unversed, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack is based on the harrowing hijack of an India-bound flight in December 1999. The flight took off from Kathmandu and was headed to New Delhi when it was hijacked. The passengers and crew were held hostage for seven days. The hijackers demanded the release of three high-profile militants: Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. The negotiations resulted in the release of the three militants in exchange for the release of the hostages.
The series has been facing calls for a ‘boycott’ over allegations that the makers tampered with the names of the hijackers. A Netflix representative met with the I&B department and assured that they will sensitivities in mind. They added that content will be reviewed and in future content on platform will be in accordance with the sentiments of the nation.
Comments
0 comment