Netflix Summoned Over Controversial Series ‘IC-814 – The Kandahar Hijack’
New Delhi, India – The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned Netflix’s content head on September 3 regarding the series ‘IC-814 – The Kandahar Hijack’. The series has sparked controversy on social media due to the portrayal of the hijackers.
Controversial Depiction
In the series, the five hijackers of the flight from Kathmandu are named Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar. BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar expressed his concerns, stating, “Every man and woman in India and indeed in South Asia knows that the hijack of IC-814 from Kathmandu was committed by Pakistan’s ISI-backed terrorists. So how the people have Hindu names in that movie, I don’t know. But I’m very happy that the I&B Ministry and the GoI have taken cognizance of this and have summoned Netflix.”
About the Series
The series, created by Anubhav Sinha and Trishant Shrivastava, stars actors Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Patralekhaa, and Dia Mirza. It is based on real events from December 24, 1999, when flight IC 814, an Indian Airlines Airbus A300, was hijacked after taking off from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal. The hijackers, posing as passengers, took control of the plane shortly after it entered Indian airspace.
The Hijacking Incident
The hostage crisis lasted for seven days and ended after the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s government agreed to release three militants. There were 191 passengers on board, including 15 crew members. One person was stabbed and succumbed to his injuries, while several others were wounded.
Political Reactions
BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya criticized the series, stating, “The hijackers of IC-814 were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha legitimized their criminal intent by furthering their non-Muslim names. Result? Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814.”
Malviya added, “This will not just weaken India’s security apparatus in the long run, but also shift the blame away from the religious cohort responsible for all the bloodshed.”
Government’s Stand
According to a statement by then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh, the hijacked IC-814 aircraft made several landings at Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai before being taken to Kandahar in Afghanistan. The government, led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was forced to release three terrorists—Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar—from Indian prisons to secure the release of the hostages.
A January 6, 2000 statement by the Union Home Ministry identified the hijackers as Ibrahim Athar, Bahawalpur; Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Karachi; Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Karachi; Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Karachi; and Shakir from Sukkur city. The hijackers were known to the passengers by the names Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar.
Doubts Revealed
Netflix -: Netflix is a company that lets you watch movies and TV shows online. You can choose what you want to watch and when you want to watch it.
Summoned -: Summoned means someone is officially asked to come somewhere, usually to explain something or answer questions.
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting -: This is a part of the Indian government that looks after what is shown on TV, radio, and in movies to make sure it is appropriate.
IC-814 -: IC-814 was the flight number of an Indian Airlines plane that was hijacked in 1999. Hijacking means taking control of a plane by force.
Kandahar -: Kandahar is a city in Afghanistan where the hijacked plane was taken.
Hijack -: Hijack means to take control of a vehicle, like a plane, by force, usually to make demands.
Anubhav Sinha -: Anubhav Sinha is a person who makes movies and TV shows in India. He is called a director or producer.
Trishant Shrivastava -: Trishant Shrivastava is another person who helps make movies and TV shows. He worked with Anubhav Sinha on this series.
1999 hijacking -: In 1999, some people took control of an Indian Airlines plane and made it go to a different place. This is called a hijacking.
BJP -: BJP stands for Bharatiya Janata Party, which is a major political party in India.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar -: Rajeev Chandrasekhar is a leader in the BJP and a politician in India.
Amit Malviya -: Amit Malviya is another leader in the BJP and works on the party’s social media and online presence.
Militants -: Militants are people who use violence to achieve their goals, often for political reasons.
Hostage crisis -: A hostage crisis is when people are taken and held against their will, and the captors make demands to release them.