Amid Row Over 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack', Netflix Agrees To Update Disclaimer, Mention Real Names of Hijackers

Amid row over names of terrorists in ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’, Netflix has agreed to update disclaimer of the series and mention real names of hijackers.

The decision came after officials of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry met Netflix representatives over the alleged misrepresentation of facts in the new series.

“For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers. The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event. India has a rich culture of storytelling — and we are committed to showcasing these stories and their authentic representation,” said Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India.

The series is based on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight by terrorists and features Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy and Dia Mirza.

Controversy Around ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’

The controversy began on social media on Sunday as many pointed out the non-Muslim names of the hijackers in the show and sought a boycott. However, an earlier Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) note from 2000, which outlined the sequence of events, had conceded that the hijackers had codenamed themselves as Burger, Shankar, Bhola and Doctor.

According to the MEA website, “…to the passengers, these hijackers came to be known respectively as (1) Chief, (2) Doctor, (3) Burger, (4) Bhola and (5) Shankar, the names by which the hijackers invariably addressed one another…”

What Govt Asked Netflix?

Sources say that Netflix assured the ministry that it would review the sensitive and objectionable parts and possibly remove them.

During the meeting, Netflix was presented with a series of questions, according to sources. They were:

• Why was no fact check done by the OTT platform before airing the series?
• Why was no caption or rider beamed across the series on the real names of the hijackers?
• Why did the negotiators look weak and incompetent in comparison to the hijackers who were shown as sensitive and human?

THE 1999 KANDAHAR HIJACKING

On December 24, 1999, the Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, en route from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal to Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi was hijacked and flown to several locations before landing in Taliban-controlled Kandahar, Afghanistan.

The motive was to secure the release of Pakistani terrorists held in prison in India – Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Masood Azhar and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. The hostage crisis, which lasted for seven days, ended after India agreed to release the three terrorists. The three have since been implicated in other terrorist actions, such as the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, 2002 kidnapping and murder of Daniel Pearl, 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, 2016 Pathankot attack and the 2019 Pulwama attack.