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Sankalp Reddy: Handful of people knew, fewer talked about it
Updated On: 04 May, 2023 08:08 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu
IB 71 director on how year-long research, meetings with former agents led to the making of film, which depicts India’s master plan behind 1971 Indian Airlines hijack
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Vidyut Jammwal
In 2021, when Vidyut Jammwal announced turning producer with IB 71, he had said that the film would be based on an episode from the 1971 India-Pakistan war. Two years on, a look at the trailer tells you that Sankalp Reddy’s directorial venture offers a retelling of the 1971 Indian Airlines hijack. “It was a pivotal moment in Indian history, but not many people knew about it,” says Reddy.
The 1971 incident, also referred to as the Ganga hijack, has been a contentious topic between the two countries. On January 30, 1971, Hashim Qureshi and Ashraf Qureshi — two Kashmiri separatists allegedly belonging to the National Liberation Front (NLF) — hijacked a Fokker F27 named Ganga that was flying from Srinagar and diverted it to Lahore airport. The two then demanded the release of 36 members of the NLF from Indian custody, and a meeting with Pakistani minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in lieu of the abducted passengers. While the Indian government refused to comply, the All India Radio reportedly made a broadcast stating that Pakistan was behind the hijack. After Hashim and Ashraf’s meeting with Bhutto and amid rising international pressure, all passengers were sent back to India.
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