New Year’s eve at India House was a subdued event. A few of the officers who were left behind in Islamabad had come with their wives. We would have dinner together, wish each other at midnight and leave. Everyone present was conscious that my husband would spend that night in Kandahar, as the Indian team had already reached Delhi with the hijacked passengers.
Jaswant Singh, then external affairs minister, had asked Ghanashyam not to return to the guest house where he and the negotiating team had been staying. He did not have access to a phone at the Kandahar airport, and we could not reach him and ascertain his safety or wish him for New Year.
Shanti Parthasarathy, the high commissioner’s lovely wife, was our gracious and charming hostess. We were good friendsand took our morning walks together. She was also my shopping companion. The two of us would often escape to Sunday markets together in my car, leaving our respective husbands behind. Unfettered by spousal disapproval, we invariably ended up buying souvenirs that we didn’t need.
Knowing me well, she sensed my disquiet and tried her best to keep us all cheerful. Her sunny disposition and affectionate nature kept us in good humour, but the conversation eventually turned to the hijacking.
Other passenger flights had been hijacked from India to Lahore or Karachi in the past. In January 1971, the Srinagar to Jammu Indian Airlines passenger flight named Ganga was hijacked to Lahore by two hijackers, Hashim Qureshi and his cousin, Ashraf Qureshi of the National Liberation Front. The passengers were released, but the plane was burnt down.
In September 1976, another Indian Airlines plane was hijacked from Delhi by a group of six terrorists. The hijackers were caught after being served with water laced with colourless tranquillizer at Lahore, where they had landed for refuelling for their journey ahead, apparently to Libya, North Africa. The plane was sent back to India with eighty-three passengers onboard.
In September 1981, extremists hijacked a Srinagar to Delhi flight to Lahore, but the passengers were freed in a Pakistani commando action. In July 1984, another Srinagar to Delhi flight was hijacked to Lahore, where the passengers were freed following a seventeen-hour ordeal when the hijackers surrendered to the Pakistani authorities.
In August 1984, a Chandigarh to Srinagar flight was hijacked to Lahore, Karachi and Dubai. The then UAE defence minister negotiated the release of the passengers. Subsequent investigations showed that the pistol recovered from the hijacker was part of a consignment sent from Germany to a PO Box in Islamabad, though the Pakistan Foreign Office denied this.
In April 1993, another Indian Airlines aircraft flying from Delhi to Srinagar via Jammu was hijacked, but Pakistan authorities refused it permission to land at Lahore. The plane landed at Amritsar where the hijacker was killed, and passengers were released.
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Given the history of hijackings of Indian Airlines flights to Lahore, we had become alert with our contingency plans soon after the news of the hijacking of IC 814 had reached us.
Being the week of Christmas and New Year, most officers had proceeded on vacation to India with their families. Among those left behind was an experienced officer and first secretary in the Mission, Mr T.R. Jatav.
He had the added advantage of being adept at shorthand. He was designated the record keeper for the crisis. He did an excellent job of shadowing the high commissioner, from room to room, jotting down all important instructions and actions taken by the Mission, while taking note of every phone call, briefly recording the time, details of the caller and the content of the call. His record was invaluable.
During those tense days, it was somehow reassuring to see the tall, well-built Jatav rushing behind the high commissioner, always with a notebook and pen in hand, but always calm.
Those were the days of long and tense hours in the high commission. Following Ghanashyam’s departure for Kandahar, the already depleted team at the Mission was reduced even more. We had to ensure that there was always an officer at hand to attend to incoming phone calls. For a few days, I went home only to shower and freshen up. The caution was worthwhile, as late one night, the Taliban ambassador in Islamabad called when I was the only officer in the Mission.
When the high commissioner told Ghanashyam about going to Kandahar, he apologized to me saying, ‘Sorry, Ruchi. There is really no one else I can send.’ His concern was not misplaced. India had no relations with the Taliban. This would be India’s first official contact with the Taliban.
There was no way of knowing what kind of reception or treatment Ghanashyam would receive at the hands of the Taliban. That was probably the reason for sending a relatively young officer to Kandahar ahead of the team from India: He was being sent like the proverbial sacrificial lamb to test the waters in Taliban land.
This excerpt by Ruchi Ghanashyam from ‘An Indian Woman in Islamabad: 1997-2000′ has been published with permission from Penguin Random House India.