The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday said that the main concern of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government during the 1999 IC-814 hijack incident was to secure the lives of the Indians in the plane, adding that any decision taken at that point of time had the consensus of all the political parties.
"As far as 1999 Kandahar plane hijack was concerned, two things have to be kept in mind. The only concern of the then government under the prime ministership of Mr. Vajpayee was as to how the Indians trapped in the plane, approximately 200, how their safety would be secured. Secondly, whatever decision was taken, was taken after the all party meeting," BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told ANI.
"There was consent and consensus among all the political parties of the country then as to how the government would move. Rather than digging into the past we should be happy all those 200 people are present with us and in fact we could secure them," he added.
Former Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) chief A.S. Dulat had earlier told a leading English newspaper in an interview that the Crisis Management Group (CMG) had 'goofed up' the operation during the handling of IC-814 hijacking. He stated that the hijackers gained an upper hand once the plane flew out of India.
In 1999, IC-814, which was en route from Kathmandu to New Delhi, was hijacked by terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan.
The crisis lasted for seven days and ended after India agreed to release three militants - Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Maulana Masood Azhar.