Netflix India has updated the opening disclaimer on its ‘IC-814 Kandahar Hijack” web series to include hijackers’ real and code names, Monika Shergill, the OTT giant’s Vice President (Content, India), said.

“For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking, the opening disclaimer has been updated… code names in the series now reflect those used during the event,” she said Tuesday.

Ms Shergill also said Netflix is “committed to showcasing stories with authentic representation”.

A massive row had erupted over the Netflix drama, which tells the story of the hijack of Indian Airlines flight IC-814 by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen in 1999. Five hijackers took control of the plane and diverted it to Afghanistan, which was then ruled by the Taliban.

The government, then led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, released three terrorists – Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Zargar – to secure the release of 154 hostages.

The ‘Bhola’, ‘Shankar’ Row

After the series was published hundreds of social media users accused the creators – Anubhav Sinha and Trishant Srivastava – of changing the names of two hijackers to ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar’.

This has been claimed as distortion of historical facts and critics have declared it misrepresents the terrorists’ real identities. They have also claimed it, therefore, offends Hindu sentiments.

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However, in January 2000 the Union Home Ministry had revealed the real names of the five hijackers – Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim and Shakir.

The ministry noted that during the hijacking and the hostage scenario they referred to each other by code names, two of which were ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar’. The others were ‘chief’, ‘doctor’, and ‘burger’.

Journalists who covered the hijacking live put out social media posts amid the controversy, saying that passengers had told them the hijackers had, in fact, used these names to address each other.

“Playing With Indians Sentiments”

The protests had led to Ms Shergill being summoned by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Sources told NDTV she had been called as the government is taking the matter “very seriously”, and that “nobody has the right to play with the Indian people’s sentiments”.

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Earlier today Netflix India officials met government officials for over an hour, after which sources told NDTV the streaming service said future content will tally with those “sentiments”.

BJP social media chief Amit Malviya posted a vicious attack on X, accusing the creators of the series of trying to whitewash the criminal actions of Pakistani terrorists by giving them Hindu names.

On the other side, opposition leaders like Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT) and former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticised the selective outrage, and pointed to historical inaccuracies in other contentious films and series in recent months.

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The political spat aside there were demands on social media to boycott Netflix.

Netflix’s IC-814 Story

The Netflix re-telling is inspired by events on flight IC-814 and on ground in Kandahar and Delhi, as well as the book ‘Flight Into Fear: The Captain’s Story’ by Devi Sharan, who was the plane’s captain.

It stars Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur in key roles.

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