Anubhav Sinha directed the Netflix series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack has yet again opened the wounds of 1999 in people's minds. Back in December 1999, an Indian passenger flight, IC 814 was hijacked by five Pakistani terrorists, who demanded their militants' release in exchange for the safety of the Indian passengers who were on IC 814. The 8-day ordeal had caused a massive fright, and the recent series yet again took people back in those days of terror.
The series, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, also caused controversy by meddling with the facts. For the same, Netflix representatives were summoned by the government. Amid this, a lot of interviews of the crew and the passengers and bits and pieces about the IC 814 hijack have been surfacing online. We came across one such piece of information that the flight engineer, Anil K Jaggia shared in his book, IC 814 Hijacked: The Inside Story.
In his book, Anil K Jaggia revealed his conversation with one of the hijackers who was codenamed Burger. Anil mentioned Burger came up to him and asked for his apologies for creating such a trauma. Anil replied by saying that he hoped that Burger and others wouldn't cause such miserable trouble for so many people, and Burger shared that this was exactly what his father used to say. Anil further mentioned that he even told Burger that he had a gift for him. In Anil's words:
"As he walked down the aisle exchanging pleasantries with the passengers, he came up beside me in seat 25B. ‘I’m sorry for causing you any trauma,’ he said sincerely. ‘I hope you won’t cause so much trouble to so many people again.’ ‘That’s exactly what my father used to say,’ he said ruefully. ‘It’s all the more reason you shouldn’t do something like this again,’ I reiterated. And then added, ‘After you’ve finished everything, come back to me. I have a gift for you.”
Anil K Jaggia shared that Burger met him at 3:30 pm and asked for his gift, which was a red Eveready torch. He shared that Burger was left bemused by such a gift and asked about its purpose. To this, Anil stated that this light would lead him to the right path. Anil mentioned that Burger received the gift but later returned it as their chief didn't allow the terrorists to receive any sort of gifts from the hostages. An excerpt from Anil's book can be read as:
"I don’t know what he was expecting, but he seemed bemused at the red Eveready torch I placed in his palm. ‘Why this torch?’ he asked, turning it around in his hand. ‘This light will guide you to the correct path,’ I said. Burger thanked me and carried it away with him, but returned soon after. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, ‘but the chief is not permitting us to take any gifts from the hostages.'"
One of the passengers who was brutally killed by the terrorists was Rupin Katyal, who was returning from his honeymoon, with his newlywed wife, Rachna Katyal. The terrorists stabbed him to death to set an example and as a threat to the Indian government. Some also believed that Rupin was scummbed to death as he disobeyed the commands of the terrorists.
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Well, when Rupin was killed, Rachna had no idea about the same, and the terrorists hadn't revealed it to her while essaying that her husband was all right. One of the passengers told the NY Times, that Rachna had been crying for two days, and on the third day, Burger came to her and told her to consider him as her elder brother. Burger also mentioned to Rachna that she should be happy as her husband was safe and sound.
What do you think about the IC 814 flight engineer giving terrorist, Burger the gift?
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