INDIA DECLARES MUSHTAQ AHMED ZARGAR A TERRORIST ; 1999 IC-814 FLIGHT HIJACK INCIDENT

New Delhi (The quiver) :The ministry of home affairs (MHA) has designated Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar as a terrorist under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.  The Centre has now designated Kashmir resident Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar as a terrorist under the act.

Hailing from Srinagar , Mushtaq , 52, is one of the three prisoners who was released by India in exchange for passengers of the hijacked Indian Airlines 814 flight in 1999.

According to the notification, Zargar is the founder and chief commander of Al-Umar-Mujahideen, a terrorist organisation under the UAPA, and was affiliated with the Jammu-Kashmir Liberation Front earlier. He had received illegal arms and ammunition training from Pakistan . “Zargar has been running an incessant campaign from Pakistan to fuel terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir,” the notification has said. The notification also said Zargar has been involved in various terror crimes including murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, planning and execution of terrorist attacks, and terror funding.

“Zargar is a threat to peace, not only to India, but across the world, with his contacts and proximity to radical terrorist groups like the Al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed… The Central Government believes that Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar alias Latram is involved in terrorism and the said Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is to be notified as a terrorist under the said Act,” stated a gazette notification issued on Wednesday by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

1999 IC-814 FLIGHT  HIJACKED INCIDENT

On December 24, 1999, Indian Airlines flight IC-814 was hijacked by five masked terrorists shortly after it entered the Indian airspace; the flight was on its way to New Delhi from Kathmandu. Instead, it was forcefully taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where, after hectic negotiations, the passengers were released in exchange for three terrorists: Zargar, Masood Azhar and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh. One passenger was earlier fatally stabbed by the hijackers.

While Masood Azhar joined Jaish-e-Mohammed, which had carried out several terror strikes against India, including the February 2019 Pulwama attack . Sheikh was involved in the abduction and murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. Sheikh is also reported have played a major role in planning the 9/11 attacks in New York City.