‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ is Netflix’s latest series that has created all sorts of buzz. The show has been praised for its stellar performances but has also been criticised for glorifying terrorism and hurting the sentiments of the common people. Here are the answers to the questions everyone is asking about the show and the controversy that followed.

What is this series about?

As the name suggests, ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’ is a web-series about the hijacking of an Indian Airlines plane by terrorists in 1999. The incident took place on December 24, 1999, when five terrorists hijacked the plane within 40 minutes of its take-off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu, Nepal. The plane, carrying 154 passengers, was headed to Delhi. However, during the hijacking, the terrorists diverted it to multiple locations including Amritsar in Punjab, Lahore in Pakistan and Dubai before landing it in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

One of the hostages was badly injured by multiple knife wounds, while another died inside the plane. The incident lasted for seven days, after which the Indian government accepted the terrorists’ demands and released three high-profile terrorists including Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar.

Who created it and who all are involved in it?

The series is created by Anubhav Sinha, who is known for directing hard-hitting films such as ‘Article 15’, ‘Thappad’, ‘Mulk’, ‘Bheed’ and ‘Anek’. It is co-produced by Trishant Srivastava, and stars Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Patralekhaa, Kumud Mishra, Aditya Srivastava, Arvind Swami, Dia Mirza, Amrita Puri, Manoj Pahwa, Kanwaljit Singh, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Yashpal Sharma and Pankaj Tripathi, among others.

Why is everyone talking about it?

The series has attracted the interest of the audience for many reasons. The film’s brilliant story and impressive acting were well received by the audience. However, a section of the audience has raised their concerns over the alleged distortion of facts related to the hijacking. Many have objected to the terrorists’ names being changed in the story. Although it is a dramatised portrayal of the incident, the series includes several real-life footage of politicians, hostages and common people who keep demanding answers from the government about the safety of the passengers.

What is the major controversy surrounding it?

According to records released by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs years ago, the five terrorists who hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC 814 on December 24 were identified as Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Saeed, Sunny Ahmad Qazi, Zahoor Mistry and Shakir. The government further identified all of them as part of Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HuM). However, in the Netflix series, the makers have revealed the names they used to address each other in front of passengers inside the flight. The names of the terrorists in the show are ‘Chief’, ‘Doctor’, ‘Shankar’, ‘Bhola’ and ‘Burger’.

Now, this creative decision on the part of the makers has not been liked by some, who see it as an attempt to downplay the association of these terrorists with Islamic extremist groups. Many on social media started trending the hashtag #BoycottNetflix, alleging that ‘IC 814’ attempts to defame the Hindu community and disrespect Hindu sentiments by presenting those terrorists as Hindus.

Due to this entire uproar, the Indian government summoned Netflix’s content head Monica Shergill on Tuesday to clarify the platform’s stand on the matter.

Is the dispute justified?

Though people’s feelings are subjective, one should know what the official government documents say about the entire hijacking incident and the identity of the terrorists. The official statement of the Union Home Minister on the IC-814 hijacking incident is available on the Ministry of External Affairs website on January 6, 2000.

The statement does give the real names of the terrorists involved in the incident, but it also clearly mentions that they all addressed each other by different names. “To the passengers in the hijacked location, these hijackers were known respectively as (1) Chief, (2) Doctor, (3) Burger, (4) Bhola and (5) Shankar, which were the names by which the hijackers always addressed each other,” the statement reads. Check out the screenshot of the statement here:

The makers may have followed the government’s official statement in naming the terrorists, as they were ‘known to the hostages’ and hence the audience also knew them.

If anything, the controversy has made the audience even more attracted to the web-series, resulting in more viewers for Netflix. The film’s team and others associated with it are yet to comment on the entire matter.