New Delhi: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the Head of Content at Netflix India following controversy over the series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. The dispute centers on the series portrayal of the 1999 Indian Airlines flight hijacking from Kathmandu to Delhi, where the names of the terrorists involved have been altered. Netflix Content Head has been summoned tomorrow by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting over the IC814 web series content row: Sources— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2024Series Sparks Backlash on X platformThe series has sparked significant backlash on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where users are calling for a boycott. The uproar is primarily due to the series decision to change the real names of the hijackers. The actual hijackers identified as Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim and Shakir are depicted with Hindu names such as Shankar and Bhola, and other names like Chief, Doctor, and Burger.Clarification from the series creatorsJournalist Neelesh Misra, who authored the book that inspired the Netflix series and Mukesh Chhabra, the casting director for the show, have clarified that the names used in the series were nicknames employed by the hijackers themselves. Misra has expressed hope that the series also acknowledges the real names of the terrorists to maintain historical accuracy.I hope the IC814 project did mention the hijackers true names. I havent seen it. I would be very surprised/shocked if it didnt.Aside: This was probably the only hijacking in the world in which the names and faces of the terrorists were known to investigators *even before it… https://t.co/cs8HlLWB7V— Neelesh Misra (@neeleshmisra) September 1, 2024About the IC 814 seriesIC 814: The Kandahar Hijack is directed by Anubhav Sinha and features an ensemble cast led by Vijay Verma. Verma portrays Captain Devi Sharan, the senior pilot of the Indian Airlines flight that was hijacked shortly after departing from Kathmandus Tribhuvan International Airport on December 24, 1999. The terrorists commandeered the flight almost immediately, compelling the captain to navigate the plane to various locations before it eventually landed in Kandahar, Afghanistan. The hijacking concluded with a controversial swap of terrorists for passengers.
