1971 Indian Airlines hijacking

Aviation incident

1971 Indian Airlines hijacking

The destroyed aircraft at Lahore Airport

Hijacking
Date| 30 January 1971
Summary| Aircraft hijacking
Site| Lahore Airport, Pakistan
31°31′17″N 74°24′12″E﻿ / ﻿31.52139°N 74.40333°E﻿ / 31.52139; 74.40333
Aircraft type| Fokker F-27 Friendship 100
Aircraft name| Ganga
Operator| Indian Airlines
Registration| VT-DMA
Flight origin| Srinagar Airport
Destination| Satwari Airport
Occupants| 32
Passengers| 29
Crew| 3
Fatalities| 0
Survivors| 32 (all)

On 30 January 1971, an Indian Airlines domestic Fokker F27, also named "Ganga", flying from Srinagar Airport to the Jammu-Satwari Airport, was hijacked by two Kashmiri separatists belonging to the National Liberation Front (NLF, the antecedent of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front). The hijackers were Hashim Qureshi and his cousin Ashraf Qureshi. The aircraft was flown to Lahore Airport in Pakistan where the passengers and the crew were released and the aircraft was burnt down.[1][2][3]

Ganga was one of the oldest aircraft in the Indian Airlines fleet and was already withdrawn from service but was re-inducted days before the hijacking.[2]

India retaliated to the hijacking and subsequent burning by banning overflights of Pakistani aircraft over Indian territory. The ban, occurring in the run-up to the December 1971 war between the countries, had a significant impact on troop movement into the erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.[2] Pakistan reacted by charging the hijackers and other NLF militants with conspiracy. The crackdown severely weakened militant organisation. Subsequently, the leader of the movement, Amanullah Khan, moved to Britain, where he established a new organisation called the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front.

## Planning

[edit]

Hashim Qureshi, convicted of the hijacking in Pakistan

Hashim Qureshi, a Srinagar resident who went to Peshawar on family business in 1969, met Maqbool Bhat of the National Liberation Front (NLF), a self-declared 'armed wing' of the Azad Kashmir Plebiscite Front. Qureshi was persuaded to join the NLF and given an ideological education and lessons in guerrilla tactics in Rawalpindi. In order to draw the world's attention to the Kashmiri independence movement, the NLF planned an airline hijacking fashioned after the Dawson's Field hijackings by the Palestinian militants. Hashim Qureshi, along with his cousin Ashraf Qureshi, was ordered to execute one. A former Pakistani air force pilot Jamshed Manto trained him for the task. However, Qureshi was arrested by the Indian Border Security Force when he tried to reenter Kashmir, India with arms and equipment. He negotiated his way out by claiming to help find other conspirators that were allegedly in the Indian territory, and sought an appointment in the Border Security Force to provide such help. Maqbool Bhat sent replacement equipment for the hijacking, but it fell into the hands of a double agent, who then turned it over to the Indian authorities. Undeterred, the Qureshis made look-alike explosives out of wood and hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft called Ganga on 30 January 1971.[4][5]

## Burning

[edit]

The hijackers landed the aircraft at Lahore and demanded the release of 36 NLF prisoners lodged in Indian jails. However, they succumbed to pressure from the airport authorities and ended up releasing all the passengers and the crew. Years later, Ashraf Qureshi admitted that they were naive and didn't realise that "the passengers were more important than the actual aircraft." Pakistani Minister Zulfikar Bhutto showed up at the airport and paid a handsome tribute to the hijackers. Indian Government then refused to carry out the demands. The aircraft lay on the tarmac for eighty hours, during which the Pakistani security personnel thoroughly searched the aircraft and removed papers and postal bags they found in it. Eventually, upon the advice of the authorities, Hashim Qureshi burnt the aircraft.[4][6]

## Crackdown

[edit]

Amanullah Khan, the founder of JKLF

For some time, the Qureshis were lauded as heroes. After India reacted by banning overflight of Pakistani aircraft over India, the Pakistani authorities claimed that the hijack was staged by India, and arrested the hijackers and all their collaborators. A one-man investigation committee headed by Justice Noorul Arifeen declared the hijacking to be an Indian conspiracy, citing Qureshi's appointment in the Border Security Force. In addition to the hijackers, Maqbool Bhat and 150 other NLF fighters were arrested. Seven people were eventually brought to trial (the rest being held without charges). The High Court acquitted all of them of treason charges. Hashim Qureshi alone was convicted of terrorism and sentenced to seven years in prison. Ashraf Qureshi was released even though he was an equal participant in the hijacking. Zulfikar Bhutto, by then the President of Pakistan, reportedly declared that he would convict one hijacker but release the other.[4][7]

Amanullah Khan, the leader of the Plebiscite Front, was also imprisoned for 15 months in a Gilgit prison during 1970–72, accused of being an Indian agent. He was released after protests broke out in Gilgit. Thirteen of his colleagues were sentenced to 14 years in prison, but released after a year.[8] According to Hashim Qureshi, 400 activists of the Plebiscite Front and NLF were arrested in Pakistan after the Ganga hijacking.[9] Abdul Khaliq Ansari, who was arrested and tortured, testified in the High Court that the Ganga hijacking had emboldened the people to question the corrupt practices of Azad Kashmiri leaders and, in reaction, the government arrested them and forced them to confess to being Indian agents.[10]

To escape the close surveillance and pressure from the Pakistan government, Amanullah Khan and Abdul Khaliq Ansari moved to the UK, where they found active support from the Mirpuri diaspora. Khan converted the UK branch of the Plebiscite Front into a new organisation Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, which eventually spearheaded the Kashmir insurgency in the 1980s.[11]

## In popular media

[edit]

A movie titled IB71, starring Vidyut Jammwal, was released in May 2023, which is based on this hijacking.[12][13]

## See also

[edit]

* List of hijackings of Indian aeroplanes § 1970s
* List of aircraft hijackings § 1970s
* List of accidents and incidents involving airliners by location § India
* List of accidents and incidents involving airliners by airline (D–O)#I
* List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft § 1971
* IB71

## Further reading

[edit]

* Kishin R. Wadhwaney (2005). Indian Airports (Shocking Ground Realities). Diamond Pocket Books. ISBN 978-81-288-0872-2.
* Willem Wendt (1993). Fokker 100 Production List. Stichting Airnieuws Nederland. ISBN 978-90-74250-08-5.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Who was behind hijacking of IA plane 'Ganga'?". Fouq Library. Archived from the original on 8 October 2011. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
2. ^ a b c Athale, Colonel (Dr ) Anil (retd) (2 June 2005). "The Rediff Special: Did India plant 1965 war plans?". Rediff. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
3. ^ "Hijack into terror". The Times of India. 6 October 2001. Archived from the original on 7 July 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
4. ^ a b c Swami, India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad 2007, pp. 112–113.
5. ^ Jamal, Shadow War 2009, p. 92-93.
6. ^ Jamal, Shadow War 2009, p. 94-95.
7. ^ Jamal, Shadow War 2009, p. 96-97.
8. ^ In Amanullah Khan's death Kashmiri separatism lost its champion Archived 1 August 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Catch News, 27 April 2016.
9. ^ Abdul Khaliq Ansari passes away Archived 15 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Greater Kashmir, 17 June 2013.
10. ^ Statement of Advocate Abdul Khaliq Ansari before ‘Azad Kashmir” High Court in 1971 Archived 15 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Jammu Kashmir Democratic Liberation Party, 8 June 2015.
11. ^ Sökefeld & Bolognani, Kashmiris in Britain 2011, p. 118.
12. ^ "What is the true story behind the IB 71 movie, based on the 1971 India-Pak war?". Jagranjosh.com. 24 April 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
13. ^ "IB71 true story: What inspired the plot of Vidyut Jammwal's film". Lifestyle Asia Hong Kong. Retrieved 24 April 2024.

## Bibliography

[edit]

* Jamal, Arif (2009), Shadow War: The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir, Melville House, ISBN 978-1-933633-59-6
* Sökefeld, Martin; Bolognani, Marta (2011), ""Kashmiris in Britain: A political project or a social reality", in Bolognani, Marta; Lyon, Stephen M. (eds.), Pakistan and Its Diaspora: Multidisciplinary Approaches, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 111–134, ISBN 978-0230119079
* Swami, Praveen (2007), India, Pakistan and the Secret Jihad: The covert war in Kashmir, 1947-2004, Asian Security Studies, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-40459-4

## External links

[edit]

* Hijacking description at the Aviation Safety Network

* v
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1971 (1971)

Jan 7

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Jan 18

Balkan Bulgarian Airlines Flight 130

Jan 22

Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash

Jan 30

Indian Airlines hijacking

Jan 31

Surgut Aeroflot Antonov An-12 crash

Mar 31

Aeroflot Flight 1969

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May 28

Colorado Aviation Aero Commander 680

Jun 6

Hughes Airwest Flight 706

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Jul 30

All Nippon Airways Flight 58

Jul 30

Pan Am Flight 845

Aug 28

Malév Flight 731

Sep 4

Alaska Airlines Flight 1866

Sep 6

Paninternational Flight 112

Sep 13

Lin Biao incident

Sep 16

Malév Flight 110

Oct 2

British European Airways Flight 706

Oct 10

Aeroflot Flight 773

Nov 9

Aeroflot Flight N-63

Nov 9

Livorno RAF Hercules crash

Nov 10

Indian Ocean Vickers Viscount crash

Nov 20

China Airlines Flight 825

Nov 24

D. B. Cooper hijacking

Dec 1

Aeroflot Flight 2174

Dec 2

Pakistan International Airlines Flight 712

Dec 24

LANSA Flight 508

1970  ◄ ► 1972

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Aviation accidents and incidents in India

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1970s|

* 1971 Indian Airlines hijacking (January 1971)
* Japan Air Lines Flight 471 (June 1972)
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* Indian Airlines Flight 171 (January 1976)
* Air India Flight 855 (January 1978)
* Indian Airlines Flight 403 (December 1978)
* Indian Airlines Flight 410 (December 1978)

1980s|

* Indian Airlines Flight 423 (September 1981)
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Aviation accidents and incidents in Pakistan

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* Korangi Creek Douglas DC-3 crash (December 1947)
* Pakistan International Airlines Flight 17 (February 1966)(*)
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1980s|

* Pakistan International Airlines Flight 326 (March 1981)
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* Indian Airlines Flight 421 (August 1984)
* Pan Am Flight 73 (September 1986)
* Death of President Zia (August 1988)
* Pakistan International Airlines Flight 404 (August 1989)

1990s|

* Pakistan International Airlines Flight 544 (May 1998)
* Pakistan Navy Breguet Atlantique shoot-down (August 1999)

2000s|

* Pakistan International Airlines Flight 688 (July 2006)
* Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash (July 2009)

2010s|

* Airblue Flight 202 (July 2010)
* JS Air Flight 201 (November 2010)
* Sun Way Flight 4412 (November 2010)
* Bhoja Air Flight 213 (April 2012)
* Pakistan Army Mil Mi-17 crash (May 2015)
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2020s|

* Pakistan International Airlines Flight 8303 (May 2020)
* Pakistan Army helicopter incident (August 2022)

(*) in East Pakistan, now the independent country of Bangladesh

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