IB ministry summons Netflix's Content Head over ‘IC-814’ controversy

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on Sep 2 summoned Netflix's Content Head to address concerns over the web series ‘IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack'.

This move follows a backlash on social media regarding the portrayal of the hijackers in the series.

Critics on social media have accused the series of intentionally altering the names of the hijackers to "Bhola" and "Shankar." The controversy has spurred a campaign with hashtags like #BoycottNetflix, #BoycottBollywood, and #IC814.

‘IC-814’ is a web series based on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight by the Pakistan-based terror group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the series is inspired by the book “Flight Into Fear: The Captain's Story” by Devi Sharan, the flight’s captain, and journalist Srinjoy Chowdhury.

The series depicts the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814 on December 24, 1999. The aircraft, with 191 passengers on board, was en route from Kathmandu to Delhi when five hijackers, disguised as passengers, took control.

The plane made multiple stops, including Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai, before being diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan.

During the crisis, then-Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee agreed to release three high-profile terrorists—Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar—from Indian prisons to ensure the hostages' safe release.

Reports also suggest that the Taliban aided the hijackers and the released terrorists in reaching Pakistan.

A Union Home Ministry statement from January 6, 2000, named the hijackers as Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya has criticized the series for misrepresenting the terrorists, who were known for using aliases to obscure their identities.

"Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has legitimized their criminal intent by highlighting their non-Muslim names. In the future, people might believe that Hindus were behind the IC-814 hijacking," Malviya posted on X.

Malviya accused the Left of trying to sanitize the actions of Pakistani terrorists, suggesting that Communists have used cinema since the 1970s to shift blame and weaken India's security.

In response, Kangana Ranaut said on Sep 2 that while leftists enjoy freedom for anti-national expressions, OTT platforms often censor nationalist viewpoints.

“Law of the land is that one can show unimaginable amounts of violence and nudity on OTT platforms without any consequence or censorship; one can even distort real-life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives,” she shared on X.

“There is all the freedom for communists or leftists across the world for such anti-national expressions, one can even distort real life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives, there is all the freedom for communists or leftists across the world for such anti national expressions but as a nationalist no OTT platform allows us to make films that revolve around the integrity and unity of Bharat,” she continued.

“It seems censorship is only for some of us who don’t want tukde of this nation and make films on historic facts. It’s hugely demotivating and unjust,” she added.