The recently released Netflix series IC 814, directed by Anubhav Sinha, has sparked significant controversy, prompting the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to issue a notice to the head content officer of Netflix India. The series, which dramatizes the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 by the Pakistani group Harkat ul-Mujahideen, has been heavily criticized on social media, leading to government intervention.
Notice Issued to Netflix:
Following widespread backlash, the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting sent a summon to Netflix India’s content head, Monica Shergill.
Netflix Content Head has been summoned tomorrow by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting over the ‘IC814’ web series content row: Sources
— ANI (@ANI) September 2, 2024
The notice demands a clarification regarding the alleged controversies surrounding the series. The government’s action comes after the series faced severe trolling online, with numerous users accusing the creators of deliberately assigning Hindu names—”Shankar” and “Bhola”—to two of the hijackers, which has been perceived as a distortion of facts.
Why the Controversy?
The web series IC 814 is based on the book Flight Into Fear: The Captain’s Story, co-authored by flight captain Devi Sharan and journalist Srinjoy Chaudhary. Released on Netflix on August 29, the series comprises six episodes that depict the real-life events of the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814. The plane, which was en route from Kathmandu to New Delhi, was forced to land at multiple locations before reaching Kandahar in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan.
The controversy stems from the decision to change the names of two of the five hijackers to Hindu names—Bhola and Shankar—despite the fact that all the hijackers were known to be religious extremists. This has led to widespread outrage, with social media users criticizing the series for its alleged misrepresentation of facts. The hashtag “Boycott Netflix” has trended on Twitter, with director Anubhav Sinha being accused of intentionally using Hindu names for the terrorists.
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s Reaction:
BJP MP Kangana Ranaut weighed in on the controversy, expressing her support for the criticism of the series. In a post shared on Twitter, she questioned the apparent double standards in content regulation, suggesting that the law permits violent and obscene content on OTT platforms and allows alternative narratives of real-life events for political motives, particularly by left-leaning creators.
Law of the land is that one can show unimaginable amount of violence and nudity on OTT platforms without any consequence or censorship, one can even distort real life events to suit their politically motivated sinister motives, there is all the freedom for communists or leftists… https://t.co/BRRrG6NGXh
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) September 2, 2024
Kangana expressed her frustration, stating that while there is freedom for some to create content that could potentially divide the nation, nationalists like her face censorship when attempting to produce films aimed at promoting the unity and integrity of India. She called the portrayal of such incidents in the series “disappointing and unjust,” and criticized the false narrative presented in IC 814.
The controversy surrounding IC 814 continues to escalate, with the government now directly involved in seeking explanations from Netflix. As the debate over the portrayal of real-life events in media intensifies, the response from Netflix and the future of the series remain uncertain.
