The government has summoned the content head of OTT platform Netflix over the series ‘IC-814 — The Kandahar Hijack’, which has triggered a row over depiction of hijackers.
Official sources said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the content head of Netflix India Monika Shergill on Tuesday, seeking an explanation on the allegedly contentious aspects of the OTT series.
The ‘IC-814 — The Kandahar Hijack’, based on the 1999 hijack of the Indian aircraft IC 814 by five terrorists, is in the eye of the storm. The government reacted after social media users accused the makers of the web series of deliberately changing the names of the hijackers to “Bhola” and “Shankar”.
The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has kicked off a row with a section of viewers objecting to the ‘humane’ projection of the perpetrators. BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said the hijackers of IC-814 were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities.
In the Anubhav Sinha directorial, the five hijackers of the Delhi-bound flight from Kathmandu are referred to as Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola and Shankar. In fact, it is in accordance with the investigation reports, and the book, Flight into Fear.
The Captain’s story’ written by Srinjoy Chowdhury and Devi Sharan, the captain of the flight. However, sections of the media found the naming of the hijackers to be insensitive and misrepresentation of the truth
Social media has been abuzz with calls for the boycott of the streamer and the show, and this went on despite the casting director Mukesh Chhabra clarifying that there were just codenames.
But the voices for a boycott grew louder, especially with BJP’s Amit Malviya tearing into the makers’ intention of not mentioning the names of the hijackers anywhere in the series.
“Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names,” Malviya posted on X. “Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814,” he said.
“Left’s agenda to whitewash the crimes of Pakistani terrorists, all Muslims, served. This is the power of cinema, which the Communists have been using aggressively, since the 70s. Perhaps even earlier,” Malviya added.
“This will not just weaken / put in question India’s security apparatus in the long run, but also shift the blame away from the religious cohort that is responsible for all the bloodshed,” he said.
