Nepal's Interim PM Sushila Karki's Husband Was Part of Nepal's First Plane Hijacking Carrying Bollywood Star Mala Sinha

Nepal's first woman Prime Minister, Sushila Karki, has a remarkable and dramatic connection to the country's political history through her husband, Durga Prasad Subedi. In 1973, Durga Prasad Subedi was one of the three men involved in Nepal’s first ever aircraft hijacking. The Royal Nepal Airlines plane carrying 19 passengers, including Bollywood actress Mala Sinha, was hijacked mid-flight as a political protest against the monarchy.

The hijacking occurred on June 10, 1973, shortly after takeoff from Biratnagar to Kathmandu. Subedi, a youth leader of the Nepali Congress at the time, along with Nagendra Dhungel and Basanta Bhattarai, hijacked the aircraft to forcibly divert it to Forbesganj in Bihar, India. Their objective was not to harm the passengers but to seize Rs 30 lakh in government cash being transported to fund an “armed struggle” aimed at overthrowing King Mahendra's autocratic Panchayat regime and restoring democracy in Nepal.

After the hijacking, the loot was secretly transported to Darjeeling with the help of senior Nepali Congress leaders like Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala, who later both served as Prime Ministers of Nepal. Subedi went into hiding but was arrested during the 1975 Emergency in India and imprisoned for two years. He was eventually handed over to Nepali authorities and released after the Emergency was lifted.

Sushila Karki herself is a prominent figure, having been the first woman Chief Justice of Nepal’s Supreme Court before rising as the interim Prime Minister. She has spoken positively about India, acknowledging her connection to India through her education at Banaras Hindu University alongside her husband.

This plane hijacking incident remains a landmark event in Nepalese history, symbolizing the fight against autocracy and the quest for democracy. The aircraft itself continued operations until it was destroyed in a 2014 crash, with its remains preserved in a Kathmandu museum, commemorating this extraordinary chapter in Nepal’s political saga.