I&B Ministry Summons Netflix India Content Head Over 'IC 814 - The Kandahar Hijack' Web Series Controversy

 Web Series Controversy: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) has summoned the content head of Netflix India following the controversy surrounding the upcoming web series IC 814 - The Kandahar Hijack. The series, which depicts the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814, has sparked significant backlash due to concerns about its portrayal of the hijackers.

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Controversy Over Depiction of Hijackers

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya has strongly criticized the series, accusing filmmaker Anubhav Sinha of misrepresenting the hijackers by giving them non-Muslim identities. Malviya expressed concerns that this portrayal could lead future generations to mistakenly believe that Hindus were responsible for the hijacking, rather than the Pakistani terrorists who carried out the attack. He accused the Left of attempting to whitewash the crimes of these terrorists and claimed this pattern has been prevalent in the film industry for years.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Malviya stated, "The hijackers of IC-814 were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names. Result? Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814. 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. 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."

Kangana Ranaut's Criticism

"Law of the land is that one can show unimaginable amount of violence and nudity on OTT platforms without any consequence or censorship, one can even distort real life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives, there is all the freedom for communists or leftists across the world for such anti national expressions but as a nationalist no OTT platform allows us to make films that revolves around the integrity and unity of Bharat, it seems censorship is only for some of us who don't want tukde of this nation and make films on historic facts," BJP Mandi MP and actress Kangana Ranaut said in a post on X.

Omar Abdullah's Response

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah weighed in on the controversy, pointing out the irony of those demanding accuracy in the depiction of the IC 814 hijacking while having accepted films like The Kashmir Files as the absolute truth. Abdullah’s comments highlighted the ongoing debate about artistic freedom versus historical accuracy in Indian cinema.

Background on the IC 814 Hijacking

The series is based on the real-life 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814, which was seized by terrorists after departing from Kathmandu, Nepal, on December 24, 1999. The harrowing incident ended with the release of three terrorists – Masood Azhar, Omar Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmad Zargar – in exchange for the safe return of approximately 150 hostages.

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