New Delhi: The recent fiasco related to the Taliban occupying Afghan province has brought back many memories when they were in power 20 years back. One such incident has been recalled by a former Air India Captain Devi Sharan who was on board Flight IC 814 when it was hijacked by the Taliban army back in the year 1999.
Commenting on the same, he said, “I do not think that there is much difference in 20 years. The only difference is that maybe now they seem to be a little educated. People, who had surrounded our aircraft, were not polished.”
A recent press conference by the Taliban troop showed they are trying to make things fall in place in Afghanistan and they vowed not to harm anyone. But Captain Devi refuses to believe them.
“They are roaming around in open jeeps with rocket launchers on Kabul streets, just like they did when they were surrounding our aircraft in Kandahar. It was as if nothing had changed. That time they were not listening to us. Their only motive was that their demands were fulfilled. We knew that we cannot come out from the situation without accepting their demands”, he said.
20 years down the line, Air India crew have mastered their job and brought back 129 civilians from Kabul on aug 15 in their AI 244 flight.
Lauding this massive success by the crew, Captain Devi said, “It is a very good job by all the crew members, operating a flight in such conditions…It is commendable that in such an environment, they operated the flight”. The Taliban is in control of the Afghan province and as per latest report they are in Doha discussing their future endeavors.