Omar Abdullah Discusses Tough Decisions During IC814 Hijacking and Rubaiya Syed Kidnapping
Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 6: Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, shared insights on the challenging decisions faced by his father, Farooq Abdullah, during the 1999 IC814 hijacking incident. He highlighted that this was not the first time his father had to release prisoners under duress.
In an interview, Omar Abdullah mentioned a previous incident involving Rubaiya Syed, the daughter of former Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, who was kidnapped by Kashmiri separatists in 1989. The Central Government, led by VP Singh, released five jailed terrorists of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in exchange for Rubaiya’s safe release.
Omar Abdullah said, “This is the second time my father was forced to release people. With Rubaiya Syed and families of the hijacked victims, they used the Rubaiya Syed incident as the benchmark. They said when you could release terrorists for a home minister’s daughter, is our family not precious? Why is it only she is precious to the country? Then if she is precious to you, then our family is precious to us. So we set a benchmark that had to be followed.”
The IC814 hijack has become a controversial topic, especially with the release of the Netflix series “IC814: The Kandahar Hijack.” Omar Abdullah emphasized that the precedent set during the Rubaiya Syed incident influenced the families of the hijacked individuals in 1999, who demanded equal consideration and safety.
Omar Abdullah also commented on the execution of Afzal Guru, stating that the Jammu and Kashmir government had no involvement in the process. He said, “The unfortunate thing was that the J-K government had nothing to do with Afzal Guru’s execution. Otherwise, you would have had to do it with the permission of the state government, which I can tell you in no uncertain terms would not have been forthcoming. We wouldn’t have done it. I don’t believe that any purpose was served by executing him.”
Doubts Revealed
Omar Abdullah -: Omar Abdullah is a politician from Jammu and Kashmir, a region in India. He was the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, which means he was the head of the government there.
Chief Minister -: A Chief Minister is like the head of a state government in India, similar to how a principal is the head of a school.
Jammu and Kashmir -: Jammu and Kashmir is a region in the northern part of India. It has beautiful mountains and is known for its scenic beauty.
IC814 hijacking -: The IC814 hijacking happened in 1999 when a plane was taken over by bad people called terrorists. They forced the plane to land in another country and made demands to the Indian government.
Rubaiya Syed kidnapping -: Rubaiya Syed was kidnapped in 1989 by terrorists. She is the daughter of a famous politician, and the terrorists wanted some of their friends released from jail in exchange for her safe return.
Farooq Abdullah -: Farooq Abdullah is Omar Abdullah’s father and was also a Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. He had to make tough decisions during the IC814 hijacking and Rubaiya Syed’s kidnapping.
Terrorists -: Terrorists are people who use violence and threats to scare others and achieve their goals. They often do bad things like hijacking planes or kidnapping people.
Afzal Guru -: Afzal Guru was a man who was involved in a terrorist attack on the Indian Parliament in 2001. He was executed for his role in the attack, but Omar Abdullah clarified that the Jammu and Kashmir government had no part in this decision.
Execution -: Execution means putting someone to death as a punishment for a very serious crime. It is a decision made by the government or courts.
