Netflix is no stranger to controversy, but its latest transgression was serious enough to push the streamer to release a statement and add disclaimers to the recently released series. As Reuters reports, Netflix recently released IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack, an Indian miniseries dramatizing the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814. The series immediately sparked outrage due to seemingly portraying the hijackers as Hindus rather than Muslims.
In reality, the plane was hijacked by members of the Islamic jihadist group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (Mujahideen movement), but the TV series only refers to them by codenames. Some detractors have said that the series goes so far as to glorify the terrorists.
Amit Malviya, the IT cell chief of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India, had the following the say about the series:
“Based on true events, IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack tells the story of the longest hijacking in Indian aviation history,” Netflix says about the series. “The series takes place in 1999, when a passenger plane was hijacked by five attackers and rerouted several times — eventually landing in Taliban-controlled territory. The event sparked an international political crisis.”
Shortly after the show debuted on August 29, 2024, Netflix India’s Monika Shergill was directed to appear before India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
“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,” said Shergill, VP of Content at Netflix India, in a statement after the meeting.
