Indian minister Jaishankar reveals his father was on 1984 hijacked flight

INDIA’s external affairs minister, S Jaishankar, shared on Friday that his father was on a hijacked flight in 1984.

Speaking at a community event, Jaishankar explained how he had a “unique window” into such situations, seeing both the family’s perspective and the government’s role in handling it.

The minister was responding to a question about the recent television series on the 1999 IC814 hijacking. During the question-and-answer session, an audience member asked for his thoughts on the Netflix series IC814: The Kandahar Hijack, which portrayed the government and bureaucracy in a negative light during the incident.

Jaishankar, who said that he had not seen the series, revealed his personal connection to a hijacking that occurred in 1984. He recalled being a young officer at the time and part of the team dealing with the hijack situation. While sharing this, he also revealed that his father, K Subrahmanyam, was on the flight.

“In 1984, there was a hijacking. I was a very young officer, part of the team dealing with it. I rang up my mother to tell her, ‘Look, I can’t come. There’s a hijacking,’” Jaishankar said, explaining how he had been planning to return home to help care for his young son as his wife was working. He later learned that his father was one of the passengers on the flight.

The hijacked Indian Airlines flight, taken from Pathankot to Dubai on 5 July 1984, ended without casualties. After more than 36 hours, the pro-Khalistani hijackers surrendered, releasing 68 passengers and six crew members unharmed.

Jaishankar reflected on the situation, noting the rare position he found himself in: “I was part of the team working on the hijacking, but also part of the family members pressing the government.” He described it as a “unique window” into both sides of the issue.

He also commented on how such events are often portrayed in media, adding, “Movie guys don’t make governments look good. The hero is supposed to look good, otherwise, nobody would watch the movie,” which drew laughter from the audience.

(With inputs from PTI)