The Netflix series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, featuring Vijay Varma in the lead is based on the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. The Kathmandu to Delhi-bound flight was diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan, by the hijackers. With the series making all the buzz, the masses are curious to find out what actually transpired inside the flight and how the Indian officials were involved in the negotiations. Since the release of the web show, several people who were held hostages have recounted their ordeal. Recently, a survivor shared how a fellow passenger who was released by the terrorists came back to stay with other passengers while the aircraft was in Kandahar.
In an interview on the Face to Face YouTube channel, a Flight 814 passenger named Jeevan Bhatt recounted, “Everybody had Stockholm Syndrome… There was a young man, I’ve forgotten his name now, he had acute appendix pain. Uss bande ko hospitalise bhi kiya gaya Kandahar mein. De-board hua woh, kyunki uski condition achi nahi thi. Lekin jo sabse hairani wali baat thi ke woh agle din phir wapas aagaya. Uska kehna tha ke main apne logon ke beech badhiya hoon, wahan naa khidki hai na darwaze hain, kam se kam yahan apne logon ke saath toh hoon. Humein toh laga ke chhoot gaya toh bach gaya (He was hospitalised in Kandahar, but the unbelievable thing was that he returned the next day. He said that he preferred being with his people because the conditions at the hospital were worse. We thought that he’d gotten away). He returned to India with us.”
Jeevan Bhatt added how another passenger from Karol Bagh, promised the hijackers that he would get pamphlets with their demands printed. He was even ready to distribute the pamphlets across India. According to Jeevan, the hijackers brainwashed the hostages telling them that Indian forces had committed atrocities against their sisters and daughters in Kashmir, but they would not do the same to the passengers because they were good people.
The IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, consisting of six parts, is directed by Anubhav Sinha. It is based on Captain Devi Sharan and Srinjoy Chowdhury’s book Flight into Fear: A Captain’s Story. Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Arvind Swamy, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Dia Mirza, Amrita Puri, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Aditya Srivastava, Kanwaljit Singh and Patralekhaa are also a part of the mini-series.
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