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India's first hijacker wants to come home

Onkar Singh in New Delhi

Hashim Qureshi, the man who hijacked an Indian Airlines flight from Srinagar to Lahore in 1971and blew it up after releasing the passengers, now wants to return home.

Qureshi was personally received by then foreign minister of Pakistan Zulfikar Ali Bhutto when he landed at the Lahore International Airport with the plane, Ganga. Then a member of the Jammu and Kashmir National Liberation Front, Qureshi was subsequently imprisoned by the Pakistani authorities.

Now living in Holland, Qureshi, say intelligence sources, wants to spend the rest of his life in the Kashmir valley.

"He feels he can effectively counter the blackmail of Farooq Abdullah and emerge as an alternative to the present regime in the state along with Shabir Shah," a source said.

For some time, Qureshi had been issuing pro-India statements in the media. He was one of the few former militants who openly condemned the hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane IC 814 -- in fact, he issued a long statement to a private television channel over the telephone.

Qureshi, who holds a Dutch passport, is, according to his claim to mediapersons, missing the valley, and wants to "return to his roots." But intelligence sources are not ready to buy this. They say the main cause of his worry is the "unhealthy atmosphere of the Western countries", which is "a bad influence on his two teenaged daughters."

After issuing the pro-India statements, Qureshi got in touch with some influential persons in the Indian polity, particularly those who have a say in the matters relating to Jammu and Kashmir. Through them, he contacted the Research and Analysis Wing.

A couple of weeks ago, his wife Zebi and two daughters had arrived in India with Danish passports. After a week's stay in Delhi, she left for Himachal Pradesh to admit her daughters to a private school there. While the elder is slated for 9th standard, the younger would go into the 7th. Zebi would, sources say, spend a week in Shimla to arrange everything.

A senior Intelligence Bureau functionary confirmed that they were keeping an eye on the Querishis' movements in India. If Qureshi's daughters do get admission, then it would be a green signal for him to go ahead with his plans to come back.

"But there can always be a proverbial slip between the cup and the lip," warned an IB official.

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