A relationship had developed between the hijackers and hostages of IC 814! The flight engineer gifted a ‘burger’

Director Anubhav Sinha’s web series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ is in the news. As soon as the film was released on Netflix, the controversy started. The terrorists’ Hindu names ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar’ were shown in the show, which caused a lot of uproar. Later the makers said that now they will add the real name along with the Hindu name (code name) in the disclaimer, so that everything is clear. Well. This series has introduced the new generation to an incident that happened 25 years ago, which created turmoil in the whole country for a week in late 1999. This show not only dramatizes the events that took place inside the flight, but also shows the political manipulations happening in the corridors of power in Delhi. But do you know that after some time a strange relationship had actually formed between the terrorists and the passengers. The hostage and the flight engineer had also given a gift to a terrorist ‘Burger’ (code name).

IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack A part of the show is based on a book written by Captain Devi Sharan. Flight engineer Anil K. Jagia wrote his/her own book with the help of former Indian Express investigative journalist Saurabh Shukla. The book was titled IC 814 Hijack: The Inside Story. It details the week-long kidnapping from the eyes of a man who was in direct contact with the hijackers.

Gave a ‘gift’ to the terrorist
Many said that after a few days, a strange bond developed between the passengers and the hijackers. Captain Devi Sharan said that he/she used to tell jokes to the hijacker named ‘Burger’ (code name). At one point, some passengers were also singing songs. In his/her book, Flight Engineer Anil K. Jagia has told about the conversation he/she had with ‘Burger’ after the talks with the Indian government were over. he/she revealed that he/she also gave a kind of ‘gift’ to the terrorist.

The terrorist said- I am sorry that I hurt you
Anil K. Jagia recalled, ‘As he/she walked down the aisle talking to passengers, he/she came up to me in seat 25B. he/she said sincerely, ‘I am sorry I caused you any pain.’ I said, ‘I hope you will never cause so much trouble to so many people again.’ he/she said sadly, ‘That is what my father used to say.’ I repeated, ‘That is all the more reason why you should never do anything like that again.’ I added, ‘Come back to me after you are done. I have a gift for you.’

The terrorist took the gift and later returned it
Anil K. Jagia further says, ‘At 3:30 in the afternoon, ‘Burger’ returned and said very respectfully, ‘I am ready to take my gift.’ Anil further said, ‘I don’t know what he/she was expecting, but he/she was surprised when I placed the red Eveready torch on his/her palm.’ he/she twirled the torch and asked, ‘Why this torch?’ I said, ‘This light will take you on the right path.’ Then ‘Burger’ thanked me and took the torch with him/her, but came back after some time and said, ‘I am sorry, but the Chief is not allowing us to take any gifts from the hostages.’

The country’s longest hijacking
On December 24, 1999, an Indian Airlines flight coming from Kathmandu was hijacked by five terrorists who took it first to Amritsar, then to Dubai and finally to Kandahar. There, the plane remained parked for several days as Indian officials negotiated with the terrorists. The terrorists demanded $200 million in cash and the release of three dozen high-profile terrorists. The Indian government finally agreed to the release of three terrorists and the hostages were freed. One passenger, Rupin Katiyal, was killed.

Controversy over Anubhav Sinha’s web seriesThere is a controversy over Anubhav Sinha’s web series because the terrorists have been shown with Hindu names in the show. The controversy grew so much that there was a demand to ban Netflix. Later, the makers made changes and said in the disclaimer to add the real names of the terrorists along with their codenames (Hindu names).