Dehradun (Uttarakhand): After the recently released web show 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' received heavy backlash for changing the names of the hijackers to 'Shankar' and 'Bhola' to allegedly protect the terrorists who belonged to a certain community, Netflix India on Tuesday announced an update saying the series' opening disclaimer now included both the real and code names of the hijackers.
ETV Bharat spoke to one of the survivors of the hijacked plane to find out about the trauma that still engulfs the passengers. Dr Anita Joshi, a resident of Dehradun, was one among those who was held hostage in the Kandahar plane hijack 25 years ago.
Excerpts from the interview:
Q: How many people from Uttarakhand were present on board?
A: Around 10 people were residents of Uttarakhand. I was one of them. RS Tolia, who was the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, was also on the plane.
Q: How did the hijack begin?
A: The hijack took place within 10 minutes of takeoff. As far as I remember, two people stood up and shouted saying the plane had been hijacked. They asked us to sit quietly and obey their orders.
Q: What was your reaction?
A: Initially we considered it to be a a joke and ignored it. However, their threats did not stop. They started dominating the passengers with their guns. That is when we realised we were in big danger.
Q: Who decided to land in Amritsar?
A: We do not know what was happening inside the cockpit. We could just hear the sounds of bullets and everyone around us was shouting and screaming their lungs out in fear. All we knew was that they would either land in Amritsar or Lahore as there was not enough fuel.
Q: Who was injured and how did you help him?
A: A passenger named Rupen Katyal was attacked by terrorists. The terrorists approached me for dressing Katyal after coming to know of my medical practice. I duly dressed the man following which he died. His body was left behind in Dubai despite his wife crying her life out.
Q: What was on your mind back then?
A: Those are the most harrowing moments of my life. I will never be able to forget them. I had lost my husband a year before this incident. And there I was, a year later, almost witnessing death, first-hand. We were locked inside for two days. Every passing second was a battle. The experience cannot be narrated in words.
Q: Did you speak to the terrorists?
A: I asked them if they were planning on killing people one by one. If yes, I asked them to start with me because I had lost patience by then. They laughed asking me if I knew where the plane was stranded. I looked out and could not recognise the place. Terrorists with huge weapons in their hands had guarded the plane. I realised there was no way back for us.
Q: What happened when you created a ruckus?
A: They were ready to let me deboard in Dubai after I raised a hue and cry. However, I was adamant. I demanded that everyone be released including my friend who was on board. They did not allow this and we sat down again.
Q: When did you come to know of the identity of the terrorists?
A: Initially we thought them to be Kashmiri Hindus, because of the code names they were using- Bhola and Shankar. It was only when we were freed from their shackles that we came to know that they hailed from Pakistan.
Q: Was it right to use their code names in the web series?
A: The makers should have kept in mind that the hijackers deliberately kept Hindu names to confuse the passengers and hide their identities. This kind of dramatisation is not fair. In my opinion, it would have been better if they were called by their real names.
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