Anubhav Sinha’s IC184 The Kandahar Hijack introduces a new generation to an old tragedy in Indian history. The re-telling of the infamous hijack’s story has piqued the nation’s interest and the Indian officials involved in the negotiations are recalling the ordeal. In a recent chat, the chief of the R&AW at the time, AS Dulat, and Anand Arni, a former special secretary at the R&AW recalled the negotiations and said that the Taliban had no control.
Talking to The Print, Arni said, “Clearly they had their limitations. Muttawakil (foreign minister) was definitely nervous.” He added that ‘an explosion’ took place in the early hours of December 30, when the auxiliary power unit (APU) of the aircraft blew up. The representative who checked what happened was ‘ashen’ as he thought the ‘plane had blown up’. Arni said, “It was clear that (the Taliban) wasn’t in total control, they were embarrassed.”
Dulat recalled getting desperate calls to hurry. Dulat said, “I was there at the first CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) meeting after the hijack, the following day at 10 in the morning, and I can tell you the atmosphere that morning was that sooner or later, we will have to give in.”
He added, “The NSA, Brijesh Mishra, said, ‘I think you need to send a team of negotiators.’ We decided to send two from each side, two from the IB and two from the R&AW. From the R&AW, we sent our two best experts on Pakistan, CD Sahay and Anand Arni, and from the IB there was the redoubtable Mr Doval… They had a very tough time on the ground, and Anand will describe that better, because I did get some desperate phone calls from there saying, ‘Hurry up and do something’.”
Dulat continued, “I remember getting a call from Ajit Doval on the morning of the 30th, and that was the day of the last Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, and he said, ‘Please, get this through quickly, it’s very difficult staying on here, these guys are telling us to get the hell out of here or we’re not responsible for what happens’. I could feel for him because it could not have been very pleasant.”
Arni revealed that the hostages were not given proper food. Arni said, “Firstly, if you’re looking at the creature comforts, it was Ramzan, there was no food. The show said that they got food, but it’s not true. It was only on the second day that we reached that the UN started flying in greasy so-called hamburgers from Peshawar. What they contained, I don’t know. The accommodation that we had left a lot to be desired. There was always that feeling that you’re friendless in a hostile country. Initially, the first four days, it didn’t matter, because there was an excitement of being there… Later, when it looked like things were going belly-up, somebody from the crew reminded us that seven Iranian diplomats had been assassinated in Mazar-i-Sharif a year before… It was a gnawing feeling in the back of one’s head.”
The show is currently streaming on Netflix.
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