Gajendra Man Tamrakar | Fiction

"Gajendra Tamrakar was like a comedian who's worked in my Mr. Ram Krishne too. I don't believe in reports that Tamrakar is an accomplice of the hijackers," said Kollywood film actor, producer Ashok Sharma when Zee News and other Indian media were speculating that "Tamrakar, a Nepalese smuggler, could be one of the hijackers".

The entire Christian world was set for another Christmas Eve waltz that day. But Kathmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) and five Kashmiri looking men were not. At around 3 p.m. in the afternoon, the five Kashmiri's along with more than 170 others were boarding an Indian Airlines plane.

The Airbus was scheduled for the Indian capital of New Delhi, northwest of here. Although millions of people around the world were in a festive mood, the five who later turned out to be successful hijackers were not. Hailing from western Himalayan State of Kashmir, the five were in an agitated mood, literally. The rebels were fighting for a cause; a separate and independent Kashmir, and not an Indian, or a Pakistani administered Kashmir.

They were more than well prepared to divert the flight IC 814 to eastern Pakistani City of Lahore. And they did it finally. Forty minutes after the aircraft became airborne from the Kathmandu airport; the five diverted the plane to Pakistan. Within an hour the first international hijack event in Nepal's history, became breaking news worldwide.

The hijackers took advantage of what Indian media (and even Nepali Premier K P Bhattarai) dubbed "lax security arrangements" at the Kathmandu airport. However, nobody but the hijackers themselves know till date as to how they sneaked such lethal weapons as pistol, knife and even grenades into the aircraft. As the heavily armed hijackers forced the pilots to steer the plane from Afghanistan to United Arab Emirates to Qatar, the passengers aboard the Airbus along with their relatives were having a hard time. A very hard time indeed.

"We were really scared at the beginning," recalls Gajendra Tamrakar, a Nepali national aboard the aircraft, "But later we became normal and took the situation as it came." Fat and giant looking, Tamrakar was even described as a Nepali accomplice of the Kashmiri hijackers by Indian media, including Zee News. Everybody was restless until the plane with limited fuel stock finally landed in Afghanistan's Kandahar airport the next day. When the plane made its first fuelling stop at India's Amritsar airport, one of the passengers was even stabbed to death. Rupin Katyal, as he was identified later, had come here for honeymoon with his wife.

Even as the plane remained parked at the Kandahar airport for almost a week, the innocent passengers were confined inside the aircraft. They were idly waiting for their release, or waiting for the Indian government to finally reach an agreement with the hijackers. The Kashmiri separatists were demanding the release of their leader Maswood Ahzaar who, till the last day of 1999, was inside a prison in Jammu. On the millennium eve, after India released Azahaar, the hijackers wished a happy New Year to all the passengers and fled the scene. They reportedly sneaked into Kashmir later on.

But for Mrs. Rupin Katyal and remaining 170 plus passengers and their families, the hijack drama or even a recall of it was and continues to be a worst nightmare. "I feel scared even today when I see a man wearing a black cap," says Tamrakar, referring to one of the five hijackers in a black cap. Tamrakar, also a film actor, was one of the eight Nepali nationals onboard IC 814. Wave met last month's most talked about man at his house in Buddhanagar recently.

Excerpts:
What are you doing at present?
I'm mending my taxis and everything that got smashed after the plane hijack.

What happened to your taxis?
Seven of my cabs met with accidents when I was held hostage inside the plane. The police harassed my drivers and they in turn crushed my vehicles.

How many taxis do you own?
I've got ten cabs in my company. I'd bought the taxis after pawning this house and the surrounding lands in Rs. 2.5 million last year.

How many children do you have?
I've got two sons. (Comfortable on a chair, Tamrakar shuts his eyes and starts snoring)

And no daughters?
.......................

What about daughter?
My four sisters are like my daughters. (He yawns) I love them very much.

What happened to your plans to sue Zee News?
(He sleeps for a brief while)... Oh Zee News did not only describe me as one of the hijackers, a smuggler and so on, but it also hurt Nepalese' sentiments. I have consulted an advocate, Gandhi Pandit to compensate me. He will soon file a petition at Kathmandu district court. I will not die without suing Zee News.

When will the petition be officially filed at the court?
Ask advocate Pandit he will be able to tell you.

Has Indian Airlines done anything towards compensating you guys?
Nothing as yet. But us (Nepali passengers) are planning to jointly submit our applications.

What took you to New Delhi on December 24?
I was a 'carrier' on a business assignment there. I could earn Rs. 5,000 - 7,000 in a single trip by doing so.

Are you still into it?
No, I am not.

What differences did you feel before and after the hijack drama?
Before everything was normal. But when I returned I found everything changed, including the government. The otherwise silent government welcomed us by garlanding us. But nothing after that. Everyone in my family wept. My brother was about to commit suicide due to Zee News bluff reporting. Even I wept hearing all this.

And about your career in film industry?
Everybody in Kollywood knows me now. More producers are coming up with offers.

And what happened inside the aircraft after it took off the Kathmandu airport?
So many things, after half an hour, they turned us to keep our heads bent down. And showing a pistol diverted the plane to Pakistan.

Could you notice where and why Rupin Katyal was killed?
I was at the backside, my head bent down. I could not notice anything.

Did they serve you food on time, and was it good?
They were not punctual. As per the food, it was good. I once devoured so giant a meal that could suffice for three days.

From where and how do you think the hijackers sneak the weapons?
A security arrangement at our airport is in no way different than in other international airports. In think security arrangements were in keeping with ICAQ (International Civil Aviation Organization) regulations that day. Possibly, the hijackers could have sneaked the weapons from the southern part of the airport. One can easily slip into the runway from that side.

Are security arrangements at Tribhuvan International Airport in any way different than that of December 24?
I have no idea. I have not gone there after the hijack. I will tell you after I go there once, all right.