On 5 July 1984, nine hijackers forced Indian Airlines Flight 405, an

Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner. West G ...

on a domestic flight from

Srinagar Airport Sheikh ul-Alam International Airport also known as Srinagar Airport and Budgam Airbase, is an international airport serving Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is owned by the Indian Air Force, and the Airports Autho ...

to the Delhi-Palam Airport with 254 passengers and 10 crew on board, to be flown to

Lahore Airport Allama Iqbal International Airport ( ur, , ) is the third largest civilian airport by traffic in Pakistan, after Jinnah International Airport, Karachi and Islamabad International Airport. It serves Lahore, capital of Punjab and second-larges ...

in Pakistan. The Sikh hijackers were armed with guns, daggers and a fake bomb. Their demands included the release of prisoners (all Sikhs arrested during

Operation Blue Star Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of ...

), million for damage done during the Operation, and the return of items alleged to be stolen from the Golden Temple during the Operation. The demands of the hijackers were not met and they ultimately surrendered to Pakistani authorities on July 6. The

Press Trust of India The Press Trust of India Ltd., commonly known as PTI, is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in New Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 500 Indian newspapers. It has over 500 full-time employees , including abo ...

quoted the hijackers as saying "Long Live

Khalistan The Khalistan movement is a Sikhs, Sikh Separatism, separatist movement seeking to create a homeland for Sikhs by establishing a sovereign state, called Khālistān ('-stan, Land of the Khalsa'), in the Punjab, Punjab region. The proposed sta ...

". It was related to the secessionist struggle in the Indian state of

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

, where Khalistani separatists were active. They demanded a separate country for Sikhs. The Khalistan movement was a separatist movement in

Indian Punjab Punjab (; ) is a state in northern India. Forming part of the larger Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, the state is bordered by the Indian states of Himachal Pradesh to the north and northeast, Haryana to the south and southeast, and R ...

and the United Kingdom where a small portion of the Sikh community openly asked for a different country for Sikh people (Khalistan).

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Indian Airlines Airbus A300 hijacking Aviation accidents and incidents in 1984 Aircraft hijackings in Pakistan Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Arab Emirates Aircraft hijackings in India Aviation accidents and incidents in India Sikh terrorism in India Terrorist incidents in India in 1984 Hostage taking in India Indian (airline) accidents and incidents 1984 in India Accidents and incidents involving the Airbus A300 Indira Gandhi administration Aircraft hijackings Terrorist incidents in India 1984 disasters in the United Arab Emirates

See also

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