IC 814 Row: Netflix content head summoned by IB Ministry over Kandahar Hijack show controversy, says report

The Netflix Content Head has been summoned on September 3 by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting (IB Ministry), over the controversy surrounding the platform's 'IC814' web series, ANI reported citing sources.

This comes a day after social media users on X (formerly known as Twitter), alleged that the series was inaccurate.

Show on Kandahar Hijack faces criticism

On September 1, netizens on social media alleged that Netflix series “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack” was “hiding the real identities of the terrorists involved in the 1999 incident”, PTI reported.

In response to this, show casting director Mukesh Chhabra on the same day claimed that the perpetrators used nicknames for each other and proper research was done for the show.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, the series is based on the 1999 hijack of an Indian aircraft by five terrorists on December 24, 1999, 40 minutes after it took off from Kathmandu. It started streaming on Netflix from August 29.

X users began using hashtags #BoycottNetflix, #BoycottBollywood and #IC814, and shared posts claiming the makers had changed the names of the hijackers to 'Shankar' and 'Bhola' to allegedly protect the terrorists who belonged to a certain community.

About the Kandahar Hijack Incident

Five terrorists, named Ibrahim Athar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhter and Sayed Shakir, hijacked the IC-814 aircraft during its flight from Kathmandu in Nepal to the national capital Delhi on December 24, 1999, as per PTI.

At least 154 passengers and crew were held hostage for eight days.

The stand-off ended when terrorists Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar were released in exchange for the hostages; and then External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh took them on a special plane to Kandahar.

"IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack" stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra, Arvind Swamy, Dia Mirza and Patralekhaa, among others.

(With inputs from PTI)