(NTI): The Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, directed by Anubhav Sinha, has sparked controversy, with accusations that it deliberately obscures the Muslim identities of the hijackers by using aliases. This has led to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting summoning the content head of Netflix, according to a report by India Today. The series is based on the book Flight into Fear: The Captain’s Story, written by Devi Sharan, the captain of the hijacked flight, and journalist Srinjoy Chowdhury.
The controversy erupted after BJP’s IT Cell head, Amit Malviya, took to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the filmmaker for “legitimizing” the hijackers’ actions by using Hindu names as their aliases. Malviya argued that the five men responsible for the hijacking, who were known by codenames like ‘Chief’, ‘Doctor’, ‘Burger’, ‘Bhola’, and ‘Shankar’ in the series, had adopted these names to conceal their Muslim identities.
The series has been accused by netizens of misrepresenting facts and inciting religious discord. However, the codenames used in the show were reportedly taken from a Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) document from 2000. This document, issued after the hijacking, detailed the names of the hijackers as identified by the Mumbai Police, who had captured four ISI operatives linked to the incident. The document also noted that the hijackers referred to each other using the same codenames depicted in the series.
Despite the backlash, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack continues to stream on Netflix, featuring a star-studded cast including Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Manoj Pahwa, Arvind Swami, Dia Mirza, and others in key roles.
