Celebrations over the release of prisoners on Indian Airlines flight 814, hijacked last month by Kashmiri militants and held for eight hellish days, were brief. Hours after India secured the release of the 188 passengers and crew, the recriminations began. Everyone, from the authorities at the Nepalese airport where the plane was seized to the New Delhi government that agreed to swap the passengers for three jailed militants, has been blamed. And even as questions continue to swirl around the incident, it is plain that many of the charges are justified. But the real cause is the festering wound of Kashmir: That territorial dispute is the chief source of tension in the Indian subcontinent. The hijacking is yet another reminder that there will be no peace there until the problem is resolved. Unfortunately, there is no sign of progress on the issue -- and the fallout from the hijacking will only harden the antagonists' positions.

The crisis began at Katmandu's Tribhuvan International Airport, where the Christmas Eve flight originated. The airport is notorious for lax security; apparently, the terrorists boarded the plane virtually unchecked. Forty minutes into the flight, the plane was hijacked. It then hopped from India to Pakistan to Dubai and finally to Afghanistan, where, after seven days on the tarmac in Kandahar, a deal was made. After originally demanding the release of 35 pro-Kashmiri militants and $200 million, they settled for three men, one of whom is alleged to be the brother of one of the hijackers. During the ordeal, one passenger was killed, stabbed to death reportedly for ignoring the hijackers' order not to look at them.

Many questions hang over the episode. How did the hijackers get their weapons on board? Why was the plane allowed to leave Amritsar in India, where the Indian government could have better controlled the situation? Did the hijackers receive weapons in Kandahar, as alleged by several of the passengers? Finally, who were the hijackers, where did they come from, and where did they and the newly freed militants go?