A passenger of the ill-fated hijacked IC 814 flight said she does not understand why people were getting offended over the Netflix series made on the incident which courted controversy after a section of viewers objected to the humane projection of terrorists and reference to their Hindu code names, contending that distortion of real identities of hijackers amounted to misrepresentation of historical events.
The Netflix web series chronicles the true story of the December 1999 Indian Airlines flight hijack by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul Mujahideen.
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.
'Burger Was Friendly', Says Survivor
Pooka Kataria, a survivor of the IC-814 Kandahar hijacking, said the series was made for entertainment purposes, adding, "I don't know why people are getting offended".
Recalling the hijacking, Pooja Kataria said, "There were five terrorists on board the aircraft. Half an hour after the flight took off the terrorists declared that the flight was hijacked. We were nervous. We were asked to keep our heads down."
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"We didn't even know we were in Kandahar. People were having panic attacks, so one of the terrorists named 'Burger', who had a friendly approach, helped people, and made them play 'Antakshari," news agency ANI quoted Pooja Kataria as saying.
Terrorist 'Doctor' [code name] gave a lot of speeches on converting to Islam. The other terrorists were named 'Bhola' and 'Shankar'. The series was made for entertainment purposes, I don't know why people are getting offended...Maybe the (Indian) government could have tried a commando attack on the aircraft in Amritsar, then then it could not have flown outside India," she added.
IC 814 Hijacking
Indian Airlines Flight 814, commonly known as IC 814, was an Indian Airlines Airbus A300 flying from Nepal's Kathmandu to Delhi that was hijacked on December 24, 1999, by five terrorists and taken to Afghanistan's Kandahar.
The aircraft carried 190 occupants which included 179 passengers and 11 crew members including Captain Devi Sharan, first officer Rajinder Kumar, and flight engineer Anil Kumar Jaggia.
Under pressure from the government, Netflix India on Tuesday said it has included the real and code names of the hijackers of the Indian Airlines aircraft depicted in the web series 'IC814: The Kandahar Hijack'.
Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju summoned the Netflix India's contend head, Monika Shergill, to convey the government's strong disapproval of the depiction of certain elements in the web 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," Shergill, Vice President, Content at Netflix India, said in a statement after meeting Jaju.
She said the code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event.
The real names of the hijackers were Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny, Ahmad Qazi, Zahoor Mistry and Shakir. However, the series referred to the code names used by terrorists -- Bhola, Shankar, Doctor, Burger and Chief.
"India has a rich culture of storytelling and we are committed to showcasing these stories and their authentic representation," Shergill said.
A senior government functionary said there was a need for the OTT platform to understand the impact certain things may have on society.
