Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, one of the three inmates released by India in exchange for passengers on the hijacked Indian Airlines 814 flight, has been labeled as a terrorist by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) under the strict Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
“Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, 52, is the Founder and Chief Commander of Al-Umar Mujahideen, which is designated as a terrorist organization under the First Schedule to the UAPA, 1967, at serial number 9, and is the son of Late Ghulam Rasool Zargar, inhabitant of Gani Mohalla, Jama Masjid, Nowhatta, Srinagar.” He was a member of the militant group Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front and had been to Pakistan to get illegal guns and ammunition training, according to the home ministry’s gazette statement.
Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar is a “danger to peace, not only in India, but around the world,” according to the ministry, because of his relationships and affinity with extremist terrorist organisations such as Al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed.
The notification stated, “The Central government believes he is involved in terrorism and is to be registered as a terrorist under the UAPA.”
Indian Airlines aircraft IC-814, on its way from Kathmandu to New Delhi, was hijacked by five masked terrorists shortly after entering Indian airspace on December 24, 1999. Instead, it was brought to Kandahar, Afghanistan, where the hostages were released in return for three terrorists: Zargar, Masood Azhar, and Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, after tense talks. The hijackers had fatally stabbed one of the passengers.
Sheikh was engaged in the abduction and death of/ American journalist Daniel Pearl, while Masood Azhar went on to found Jaish-e-Mohammed, which has carried out multiple terror attacks against India, including the Pulwama assault in February 2019. Sheikh is also said to have played a key role in the planning of the New York City terrorist strikes 9/11.
