ISLAMABAD: The Commission appointed by the President to enquire into the circumstances of the hijacking of the Indian civil aircraft to Lahore on January 30 this year has come to the conclusion that the hijacking was arranged by the Indian intelligence agencies as the culmination of a series of actions taken by the Indian Government to bring about a situation of confrontation between Pakistan and India. These included, the Commission said, Indian attacks on Batrigach and other Pakistani enclaves in December 1970, externment of Sheikh Abdullah and Mirza Afzal Beg from Kashmir, banning the Plebiscite Front and expulsion of a First Secretary of Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi.

The Commission, headed by Mr Justice Noorul Arifin, Judge of the High Court of Sind and Baluchistan, was appointed by the President in March and it submitted its report ... on April 15, 1971.

It examined a number of witnesses besides the two hijackers, Mohammad Hashim Qureshi and Mohammad Ashraf Qureshi. A summary of the report released here today [April 20] said the Commission has come to the conclusion that Pakistan was in no way responsible for nor in any way connected with the hijacking incident.

Published in Dawn, April 21st, 2021