I&B Ministry summons Netflix content head over IC-814 series row

New Delhi: The government has summoned the content head of OTT platform Netflix over the series 'IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack', which has triggered a row over the depiction of hijackers, contending that nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the nation.

Official sources said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the content head of Netflix India on Tuesday, seeking an explanation on the allegedly contentious aspects of the OTT series portraying the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has stirred controversy with a section of viewers objecting to the 'humane' projection of the perpetrators.

"Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. Indian culture and civilisation should always be respected," another official source said.

"Should we allow any foreign people to slipshod over our cultural values," the source said without elaborating.

The sources said filmmakers have to think before portraying something in a wrong manner. "You may be liberal, but you cannot portray institutions in a wrong manner," the source said.

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

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said the hijackers of the IC-814 flight were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities.

"Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names. Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814," Malviya posted on X.

"Left's agenda to whitewash the crimes of Pakistani terrorists, all Muslims, served. This is the power of cinema, which the Communists have been using aggressively, since the 70s. Perhaps even earlier," Malviya said.

"This will not just weaken/put in question India's security apparatus in the long run but also shift the blame away from the religious cohort, that is responsible for all the bloodshed," he added.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was really amusing to see the people who took movies like 'Kashmir Files' as the gospel truth having a meltdown at the way the events of IC814 are depicted in the Netflix show.

"Now suddenly they want accuracy and nuance packaged in the script," Abdullah said on X. Shiv Sena-UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said the "right-wing outrage" over the IC-814 TV series was a reminder of the BJP government’s massive failure then.

"... it reminds the nation how the intelligence and government agencies were caught off guard. Much like the Kargil war too," said Chaturvedi, a Rajya Sabha member.

She said three dreaded terrorists, Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh, and Mushtaq Zargar, who were released ended up creating Jaish-e-Muhammad, a terror outfit that attacked Parliament in 2001.

Chaturvedi recalled that the three terrorists were personally escorted by India's current NSA, and the then defence minister.