'My father was on the flight...': Jaishankar reflects on 1984 Air India hijack, shares personal story (WATCH)

  External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recounted his personal connection to a 1984 plane hijacking while discussing Netflix's 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack'. Jaishankar revealed his father was a passenger on the hijacked flight and that he himself was part of the team managing the crisis.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday shared a personal connection with the Netflix web series 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack'. During an interaction with the Indian community in Geneva, he revealed that his father was a passenger on an aircraft hijacked in 1984, an incident he played a role in managing. Jaishankar offered a unique perspective on both the series and his own harrowing experience from 1984.

Though Jaishankar admitted to not having viewed the series, he expressed a pointed critique, noting, "the film guys don't make the government look good." His remarks came as part of a broader commentary on the often dramatic liberties taken by filmmakers.

In a poignant anecdote, Jaishankar recounted a personal episode from a hijacking incident of 1984. "I haven't seen the film yet, so I can't comment. But in 1984, there was a hijack. I was a very young officer and was part of the team which was dealing with it. My son was a few months old and my wife used to work. So it was my day to go back home and feed him lunch." The gravity of the situation was brought into sharp relief when he learned, to his dismay, that his own father was among the passengers on the hijacked flight. "So I rang up my mother to tell her said 'look I am unable to come, there's a hijack'. It was then that I discovered that my father was on the flight," Jaishankar recalled, highlighting the dual burden of his official duties and familial concern.

Reflecting on the harrowing nature of the ordeal, Jaishankar shared insights into the behind-the-scenes challenges faced by the government. "Fortunately, nobody got killed but it could have ended up wrongly. And it was interesting because on one hand I was part of the team which was working on the hijacking, on the other hand I was part of the family members who were pressing the government for the hijack. So actually I had a very unique window into the problem."

Regarding the Netflix series’ portrayal of the 1999 hijacking of Indian Flight 814, Jaishankar offered a pragmatic perspective: "Movie guys don't make the government look good, then no one would look their movie. The hero is supposed to look good, not you. So I think you got to accept that." His remarks underscore a broader recognition of the tension between cinematic dramatization and historical accuracy.

Currently on a two-day visit to Geneva, Jaishankar's reflections offer both a personal and professional lens on the complexities of handling crises, and the often contentious intersection of historical events and their cinematic representations.