| We had planned our millennium issue
with great care. A crew of editors had over the weeks given shape to
an editorial vision of what our future might be. The issue was
packaged and ready well in advance. All of us thought we would have a
quiet weekend ushering in the next century. Then terrorists seized
control of Indian Airlines flight IC-814, and so began the longest hijack
drama in India's history. A vision of the future is great in
calmer times, but as India's premier newsmagazine, our prime
responsibility is to the present.
We unhesitatingly put aside our
millennium issue until next week, changed printing schedules and
committed as many pages and resources as possible to covering the
story the entire country was tensely following.
It wasn't easy. Getting to Kandahar
was impossible. First, there are no flights. Second, we could get a
visa from the embassy of the recognised Afghan government, but it
would get us nowhere. That's because India recognises a regime that
does not rule Afghanistan. We have no official links with the regime
that does -- the Taliban. So Associate Editor Farzand Ahmed caught a
Royal Nepal Airlines flight to Kathmandu -- Indian Airlines has
suspended all flights -- to investigate how six heavily armed men
could casually walk into an international flight. Other correspondents
got busy in Srinagar, Amritsar and Delhi, piecing the story together,
checking and cross-checking the facts. That took some doing because of
the secrecy surrounding the negotiations and divergent versions of
what should have been done.
As we bring you the results of this
intensive reportage, our hearts go out to the hostages and their
families who went through this nightmarish experience.
(Aroon Purie) |
