Anubhav Sinha web series IC 814 has been mired into controversy. The controversy has now taken a new turn. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India has summoned Netflix’s content head to Delhi.
Many people are accusing IC 814 of attempting to conceal the real names of the terrorists in the show. This has led to widespread protests against the series. People are also posting on social media with hashtags calling for a boycott of Netflix and Bollywood.
What is the controversy all about: Director Anubhav Sinha’s Netflix show ‘IC 814’ is based on a real event that took place in December 1999. The show revolves around the hijacking of a flight that was traveling from Kathmandu to New Delhi and the passengers on the flight were mostly Indian citizens. The aircraft was finally taken to Kandahar, Afghanistan, after stopping at several different locations.
The then NDA government under Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee had to accept the demands of the terrorists to save the lives of the passengers. One of the demands was the release of three terrorists, including the dreaded Maulana Masood Azhar. The demand also included the release of Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar, who were in Indian jails at the time. Maulana Masood Azhar later went on to form Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) in early 2000s that quickly became one of the most active and notorious terrorist organizations in South Asia, focusing on terrorist activities, particularly in the Indian-administered region of Jammu and Kashmir. JeM was responsible for several high-profile attacks, including the 2001 Indian Parliament attack.
In the show “IC 814,” the hijackers are seen using code names instead of their real names throughout the incident. These code names are Burger, Chief, Shankar and Bhola. People on social media are accusing the show of trying to hide the real names of the terrorists, and giving them Hindu identity, whereas the real name of the hijackers were Shahid Akhtar, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Ibrahim and Ibrahim Athar.
The show and the director Anubhav Sinha are facing backlash, and people are also posting with boycott hashtags against Netflix and Bollywood.
As per the External Affair Ministry Reports the hijackers have given themselves code name like Burger, Cheif, Shankar and Bhola.
Amit Malviya, the Chief of BJP’s IT Cell, has posted on X about the controversy surrounding “IC 814.” where he wrote that IC-814 hijackers were dangerous terrorists who used pseudonyms to hide their Muslim identity. He also mentioned that filmmaker Anubhav Sinha has portrayed their non-Muslim names. He further said that by promoting their non-Muslim names, the filmmakers have legitimized their criminal intentions. He added that this might lead people to think that Hindus were the ones who hijacked IC-814.
This is not the first time that a show/web-series has landed in controversy for hurting Hindu sentiments. “Paatal Log” faced controversy for its portrayal of Hindu rituals and the use of religious symbols, which some viewers found offensive. Sacred Games” – This Netflix series faced backlash for its depiction of Hindu gods and religious symbols.
