Opinion Forty Years Ago, March 8, 1981: Pak plane hijacking

Two American woman hostages were released from the hijacked Pakistani jetliner in Kabul, after an Afghan government official’s appeal to the gunmen holding the aircraft. In Islamabad, Pakistan’s Defence Secretary Major-General Rahim Khan said Pakistan was willing to free only five of the dozens of prisoners whose release is demanded by the hijackers and had authorised Afghanistan to launch a rescue mission and also offered to send it anti-terror squad to help. The Americans’ freedom left three other women on board the aircraft – an elderly Pakistani woman who has refused to leave her son and two airline employees. Kabul radio that the hijackers had also released two Pakistani passengers who had become sick from the mental anxiety and the pressure of their weeklong ordeal.

Urdu In UP

From now in Uttar Pradesh, applications in Urdu will be accepted in government offices. Action will be taken against any official refusing to take such an application. This was announced by the state chief minister Vishwanath Pratap Singh. At least one person will be placed in the offices of the district magistrate and the commissioner to deal with Urdu applications. This would be expanded. Singh tried to dodge the question on whether this meant that Urdu is the second official language in UP by saying that labels do not count. “Give it any name, the content is there,” he said.

Advertisement

Jagjivan Ram’s Claim

Jagjivan Ram has claimed that in many temples in Gujarat and other states, a tirade was carried out against him, when he was tipped to become prime minister two years ago. He said that when the Janata Party projected him as the PM during the last Lok Sabha election campaign, orthodox Hindus propagated that lamps would cease to burn in temples if he became PM.