History has marked the Srinagar-Jammu Ganga Fokker plane’s hijack on January 30, 1971 with mystery and contradicting accounts. Who actually planned the hijack? Was it India? Pakistan? Or the two young Kashmiris - Hashim Qureshi and Ashraf Qureshi - acted on their own behalf and JKNLF to achieve a political goal? And what was the objective? Highlight the Kashmir issue internationally? Or sow the seeds of isolation of East and West Pakistan for the eventual birth of Bangladesh?
History has hardly answered these questions convincingly. History hasn’t given us any credible first-hand account of the hijack saga either. Today, 43 years after that fateful event, a 13-year school boy then on his maiden air journey on the same flight, adds to our understanding of the events with a stunning first-hand account of the hijack story. The details raise new questions. They also renew the need for fresh answers.
30/01/14 Arjimand Hussain Talib/Greater Kashmir
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History has hardly answered these questions convincingly. History hasn’t given us any credible first-hand account of the hijack saga either. Today, 43 years after that fateful event, a 13-year school boy then on his maiden air journey on the same flight, adds to our understanding of the events with a stunning first-hand account of the hijack story. The details raise new questions. They also renew the need for fresh answers.
30/01/14 Arjimand Hussain Talib/Greater Kashmir
