1971-02-01
By Associated Press
Page: 7
KARACHI, Pakistan, Jan. 31 (AP)—Two Kashmiris who hijacked an Indian Airlines plane to Pakistan will be given asylum here, the Government announced today.
The men seized the aircraft yesterday on a flight in Indian Kashmir and ordered it to Lahore in Pakistan. When the plane landed, the hijackers, armed with explosives and pistols, refused to get off until they were guaranteed freedom from prosecution. They allowed 26 passengers and four crew members to leave the plane.
It was not known whether the two men agreed to leave the plane today.
The Foreign Office said other demands by the hijackers were the concern of the Indian Government. One of the demands was that 36 members of the National Liberation Front in Kashmir be released from jail. The hijackers are members of the front in Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan have fought two wars since 1947. India holds two‐thirds of the territory.
The leader of the National Liberation Front in Pakistan, Moqboll Ahmad Butt, met with the hijackers. Mr. Butt said he would ask the hijackers to blow up the plane if their demands were not met by India.