‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, directed by Anubhav Sinha, was launched on Netflix on August 29.
New Delhi:
Netflix’s newest net collection, ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, has sparked an issue. The present, which is predicated on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airways flight by terrorists, has been accused of distorting information, whitewashing terrorism, and offending public sentiment. The uproar has led to the Indian authorities summoning the content material head of Netflix India.
The Incident: Hijacking of IC 814
Indian Airways Flight IC 814 was hijacked on December 24, 1999. The aircraft, carrying 154 passengers and crew, was hijacked by 5 terrorists 40 minutes after it took off from Nepal’s capital Kathmandu, certain for Delhi. The hijackers, recognized as members of the Pakistan-based terrorist outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM), diverted the aircraft to Kandahar in Afghanistan, then beneath the management of the Taliban.
The disaster lasted for eight days, throughout which the terrorists demanded the discharge of three high-profile militants: Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. The Indian authorities, beneath immense stress to save lots of the lives of the hostages, in the end agreed to launch the militants. Then-Exterior Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh personally escorted the terrorists to Kandahar, a transfer that continues to be controversial to this present day.
The Sequence: IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack
‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, directed by Anubhav Sinha, was launched on Netflix on August 29. The collection is a dramatised retelling of the hijacking incident, that includes a star-studded forged together with Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, and others. The collection has garnered important consideration, not just for its portrayal of the hijacking but in addition for the controversy surrounding its illustration of the terrorists.
The controversy erupted quickly after the collection’ launch, with social media customers accusing the filmmakers of distorting the information surrounding the hijacking. The central problem revolves across the portrayal of the terrorists. The collection makes use of the names “Shankar” and “Bhola” for the hijackers, which some viewers have interpreted as an try to obscure the true identities of the terrorists and their affiliations with Islamic extremist teams.
On platforms like X (previously Twitter), hashtags comparable to #BoycottNetflix and #BoycottBollywood started trending, with customers accusing the filmmakers of rewriting historical past and downplaying the fear inflicted by the precise hijackers. Some social media customers claimed that the collection was a “vile try” to whitewash terrorism and vilify the Hindu neighborhood by assigning Hindu names to the terrorists.
Amid the rising controversy, the Centre has taken notice of the general public outcry. Based on sources, that the Ministry of Info and Broadcasting has summoned Monika Shergill, the content material head of Netflix India, to handle the problem.
Union Residence Minister’s Assertion (January 6, 2000)
Within the instant aftermath of the hijacking in 1999, the then Union Residence Minister issued an in depth assertion, revealing essential details about the incident and the involvement of Pakistan’s Inter-Companies Intelligence (ISI). The Residence Ministry assertion reveals the arrest of 4 ISI operatives who have been integral to the assist cell for the hijackers.
The assertion categorically states that the hijackers – Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Shakir a.okay.a Rajesh Gopal Verma, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhtar Sayed and Ibrahim Athar used nicknames like Bhola, Shankar, Physician and Burger to handle one another contained in the aircraft.
“To the passengers of the hijacked place these hijackers got here to be identified respectively as (1) Chief, (2) Physician, (3) Burger, (4) Bhola and (5) Shankar, the names by which the hijackers invariably addressed each other,” the federal government assertion reads.
Though the movie has triggered an issue, it stays one of many most-watched collection on Netflix because the day of its launch.