IB Ministry summons Netflix content head over IC-814 series row

PTI, Sep 2, 2024, 12:20 PM IST

New Delhi: The government has summoned the content head of OTT platform Netflix over the series ‘IC-814 — The Kandahar Hijack’, which has triggered a row over depiction of hijackers.

Official sources said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned the content head of Netflix India on Tuesday, seeking an explanation on the allegedly contentious aspects of the OTT series.

The depiction of hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight from Kathmandu to Delhi has kicked off a row with a section of viewers objecting to the ‘humane’ projection of the perpetrators.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said 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,” Malviya posted on X.

“Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814,” he said.

“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 said.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said it was really amusing to see the people who took movies like ‘Kashmir Files’ as the gospel truth having a melt down at the way the events of IC814 are depicted in the Netflix show.

“Now suddenly they want accuracy and nuance packaged in the script,” Abdullah said on X.