Indian Airlines planes hijacked in 1982 and 1984

Who: Sikh hijackers of four Indian Airlines flights in 1982 and 1984, and the Indian and Pakistani authorities who dealt with them. The earlier hijacking of 29 September 1981, by five Dal Khalsa members, has its own page.

What: The sources date the hijackings as follows.

• 4 August 1982: The Government of India's White Paper says an Indian Airlines plane flying from Delhi to Srinagar via Amritsar was hijacked with 126 passengers aboard and taken towards Lahore. Lahore would not let it land, and it returned to Amritsar, where the hijacker was arrested. Khushwant Singh agrees on date and count. Gurmit Singh names the hijacker as Gurbux Singh Majithia and says the main demand was the release of Bhai Amrik Singh, president of the All India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF), and other Sikh activists.
• 20 August 1982: A second plane, flying from Jodhpur to Delhi, was hijacked. Refused permission to land at Lahore, it came down at Amritsar, where the White Paper says the hijacker was killed in a shoot-out. Gurmit Singh names him Musibat Singh, counts 63 passengers and writes that police shot him dead after a passenger pushed him; he adds that police then killed several Sikh youths in false encounters, without naming them.
• 5 to 6 July 1984: Flight 405, an Airbus flying from Srinagar to Delhi, was hijacked and forced to land at Lahore. A UPI report of 5 July says officials counted 255 passengers and nine crew and identified the hijackers as members of the banned AISSF, who shouted slogans for Khalistan. According to Wikipedia, nine hijackers demanded the release of Sikhs arrested during Operation Blue Star, 25 million dollars and the return of items said to have been taken from Sri Harmandir Sahib; they surrendered to Pakistani authorities on 6 July. Gurmit Singh dates it to 6 July and calls the hijackers an AISSF suicide squad.
• 24 August 1984: Flight 421, from Delhi to Srinagar, was hijacked and flown to Amritsar, Lahore, Karachi and Dubai. Wikipedia, citing India Today and the Hindustan Times, says seven AISSF members seized it and asked for asylum in the United States, and that they surrendered in Dubai after talks led by the Emirates' defence minister, freeing all passengers and crew, and no one died; they were later extradited to India.

Where: In the air between Delhi, Srinagar and Amritsar, and on the ground at Amritsar, Lahore, Karachi and Dubai.

Why it mattered: Two of the hijackings carried demands tied to the Sikh agitation: in August 1982 the release of Amrik Singh and others, in July 1984 the release of those held after Operation Blue Star. The White Paper counted the two 1982 hijackings among the incidents that followed the launch of the Dharam Yudh Morcha on 4 August 1982.