If you were in India in the final, fading days of 1993, you remember. You remember the grainy news footage, the tense voices of news anchors, the collective dread that hung over the country like a fog. It wasn’t just a news story; it was a national trauma playing out in real-time.
This is the story of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC-486, an event that would become seared into memory simply as “Hijack ’93.”
The Flight and the “Passengers”
On December 24, 1993, Indian Airlines Flight IC-486 took off from Calcutta (now Kolkata) on a short domestic hop to Delhi. It was a routine flight, carrying passengers looking forward to being home for Christmas. But among them were five men who were not ordinary travellers.
Shortly after takeoff, they struck. Brandishing grenades, pistols, and knives, they seized control of the aircraft. The initial demand was simple: fly to the West. But this was just the beginning of a terrifying, multi-national odyssey that would see the Airbus A300 become a prison in the sky for over 140 passengers and crew.
A Harrowing Journey Across Borders
Denied entry at several Indian airports, the hijackers forced the plane to fly to Lahore, Pakistan. This was the first critical moment. With fuel running dangerously low and Pakistan initially refusing permission to land, the pilot made a desperate, bumpy landing on a dimly lit runway. The standoff had begun.
But Lahore was only a pitstop. After refuelling under duress, the plane was forced to fly to the UAE, where it was again denied landing rights. The next destination was a sign of the hijackers’ escalating desperation: they ordered the plane to fly to Kabul, Afghanistan.
In 1993, Kabul was a city torn apart by civil war. The airport was a wreck, with wrecked planes littering the tarmac. It was here, in this desolate and chaotic landscape, that the true nightmare unfolded.
The Cruelty in Kabul
It was on the tarmac in Kabul that the hijackers made their core demand: the release of Maulana Masood Azhar, a prominent Pakistani militant being held in an Indian jail.
To show they were not bluffing, they executed a young passenger, Rajesh Kumar, and threw his body onto the tarmac. This brutal act sent a shockwave through India and the world. The situation was no longer a negotiation; it was a countdown to a potential massacre.
After days of tense stalemate, with the world watching in horror, a deal was struck. On December 31, 1993, the hijackers released the remaining hostages in exchange for Masood Azhar and safe passage.
The hostages were free. The nation exhaled. But the story was far from over.
The Aftermath and a Dangerous Legacy
The immediate aftermath was one of relief mixed with fury. India’s security apparatus was heavily criticized for the lapses that allowed the hijacking to happen. But the most significant and lasting consequence was the release of Maulana Masood Azhar.
This single act had repercussions that would echo for decades. Azhar, now free, went on to found one of the most notorious terrorist organizations in South Asia—Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). The JeM would become a key player in the insurgency in Kashmir and was responsible for some of the most devastating attacks on Indian soil, including the 2001 attack on the Indian Parliament and the 2019 Pulwama attack.
In this light, “Hijack ’93” was not an isolated event. It was a catalyst. It was the moment a dangerous extremist was unleashed, whose ideology and organization would go on to shape the geopolitics of the region for years to come.
Why We Still Remember “Hijack ’93”
Today, “Hijack ’93” stands as a grim milestone.
- It was a pre-9/11 blueprint: It demonstrated the terrifying potential of aviation terrorism and the global reach of militant groups.
- It highlighted intelligence failures: The event forced a painful re-evaluation of national security protocols.
- It had a devastating long-term cost: The release of Masood Azhar proved that giving in to terrorist demands can have consequences far beyond the immediate crisis.
For those who lived through it, “Hijack ’93” is a memory of a week when time stood still. It’s a story of the resilience of the hostages, the bravery of the flight crew, and a stark reminder that the decisions made in a moment of crisis can cast a very long, and very dark, shadow.
