New Delhi has accused US streaming giant Netflix of hurting national sentiments after Muslim terrorists were given Hindu names in a new TV series, prompting outrage across the country.
The controversy erupted after the recent release of ‘IC 814 – The Kandahar Hijack’, directed by Anubhav Sinha. The plot is based on the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 by the Pakistan-based terrorist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
According to an Indian Home Ministry statement from 1999, the hijackers addressed each other as “Chief,” “Doctor,” “Burger,” “Bhola,” and “Shankar.” The same names have been adopted by the Netflix series, despite the fact that the real names of the terrorists are now known – Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir.
Soon after the series was released on August 29, social media was flooded with calls for both the show and the streaming platform to be boycotted over the portrayal of the hijackers.
According to Indian media, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the content head of Netflix India, Monika Shergill, seeking an explanation over the controversy. “No one should play with the sentiments of the country, sentiments should be respected. We are not that liberal,” an official said, according to the New Indian Express.
ANI news agency reported, citing Indian government sources, that authorities are taking the matter “very seriously,” and the streaming giant has also “guaranteed” that all future content will be sensitive to national sentiments.
Indian Airlines Flight 814, which was flying from Kathmandu, Nepal to Delhi, was hijacked on December 24, 1999 by five men after entering Indian airspace. The aircraft was diverted to Kandahar in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The hijackers wanted to secure the release of three Pakistan-linked terrorists – Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Masood Azhar, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar – and New Delhi agreed to release them.
“The hijackers of IC-814 were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities,” Amit Malviya, a prominent leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), wrote on X (formerly Twitter). By distorting their names, Malviya claimed, the filmmaker legitimized their criminal intent. “Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814,” he wrote.
“What is stopping the Narendra Modi government [from arresting] both writer and director of the controversial web series?” an X user commented underneath Malviya’s post. The hashtag #BoycottNetflix began trending on X amid the outcry.
Hindu activists had previously taken offense in relation to a Tamil-language movie on Netflix called ‘Annapoorani: The Goddess of Food’ over its alleged promotion of inter-faith marriage between Hindus and Muslims. Netflix took down the film worldwide after Hindu rights activist Ramesh Solanki and right-wing group Vishva Hindu Parishad filed a first information report (FIR) against the streaming company and the filmmakers.
Following the outcry, Netflix has later on Tuesday updated the disclaimer to the 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 platform said in a statement.
India has reportedly become the second-largest market for Netflix in terms of new paid subscribers added in the second quarter of 2024, according to Business Standard.