Amid a row over Netflix’s ‘IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack’ series, the Secretary of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (I&B) met with representatives from the OTT platform on Tuesday, during which the government was assured that “sensitivities” will be factored into future content.
Netflix has promised that future content on its platform will be reviewed to align with national sentiments, government sources said. Concerns regarding age-appropriateness and national security will be addressed and the platform will provide updates on how it plans to address the concerns raised.
‘IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack’, which dramatises the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines flight, has faced backlash due to alleged misrepresentation of the hijackers, particularly the use of names that critics argue inaccurately present the terrorists’ identities. The I&B Ministry summoned Netflix’s content head, Monika Shergill, following accusations that the series changed the names of hijackers.
What Critics Say
Critics have expressed outrage, claiming that this portrayal could distort historical facts and hurt religious sentiments.
Earlier, the Centre had summoned the content head of the OTT platform, contending that nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people in the country.
The I&B Ministry reportedly wanted an explanation of the contentious aspects of the series portraying the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
‘Govt is taking it very seriously’
“Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. India’s culture and civilisation should always be respected. You should think before portraying something in a wrong manner. The government is taking it very seriously,” government sources were quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
The series, directed by Anubhav Sinha, was released on Netflix on August 29.
According to sources, the objection is on the following grounds. “The portrayal of events during the hijacking of Indian Airlines flight IC 814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar in a recent OTT series is far from the truth. The script and characterisation of actors in the series is an attempt to erase facts and replace them with fiction to normalise a crime against the nation masterminded and facilitated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI),” they said.
‘Left’s agenda?’
In his statement on Sunday, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell head Amit Malviya said, “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 terrorirts, all Muslims, served.”
Even actor-MP Kangana Ranaut, whose movie ‘Emergency’ is caught in controversy and its release has been deferred, said, “One can even distort real-life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives… There is freedom for Communists or Leftists across the world for such anti-national expression, but as a nationalist, no OTT platform allows us to make films that revolves around the integrity and unity of Bharat.”
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