Netflix guarantees all content to be sensitive to national sentiments amid IC 814 row

Netflix has reportedly 'guaranteed' that all its future content will be sensitive to national sentiments amid the row over Anubhav Sinha's debut OTT series IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack. There has been an uproar over the names of two hijackers – Bhola and Shankar – in the series with many objecting and accusing makers of replacing the names of two Muslim terrorists with Hindu names.

Owing to the uproar over the show on social media, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting summoned Netflix Content Head Monica Shergill for questioning. 

‘Think before you portray something wrong…’

Government sources told news agency ANI that the Shergill representing Netflix has assured to review content keeping national interest in mind. "Netflix has assured us that it will conduct a content review and guarantee that all future content on its platform will be sensitive to and in accordance with the nation's sentiments."

They had earlier said, “Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. India's culture and civilization should always be respected. You should think before portraying something in a wrong manner. The govt is taking it very seriously.”

The series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack is based on the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen. 

According to a report by ANI, Netflix has decided now to add a disclaimer to the series on their OTT platform and add the real names of all five Pakistani Islamist terrorists who were involved in the hijack of IC-814. 

The names of the terrorists are – Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Shakir, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, and Ibrahim Athar. 

Meanwhile, a PIL was also filed in the Delhi High Court on Monday (Sep 2) seeking a ban on the OTT series. The plea alleged that the mini-series erroneously shows the real hijackers having Hindu names – Bhola and Shankar – the other names of Lord Shiva, which hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community.

The petition filed by Surjit Singh Yadav, a farmer and president of Hindu Sena, sought direction from the Centre and Maharashtra government to cancel the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificate and ban the public viewing of the series.

Netflix content head summoned by I&B Ministry amid IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack controversy

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, legitimized 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.

The makers had alleged that the names were code names that hijackers had given to each other and were used as it is in the series. 

The series was released on Netflix on August 29. It stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Dia Mirza, and Arvind Swami among others.