The row over Anubhav Sinha's debut OTT series, IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack, is far from dying down. As per a report by ANI, the government is taking the matter ‘very seriously’ and the streaming giant has also ‘guaranteed’ all future content will be sensitive to national sentiments. The show has been hit with allegations of distortion of facts about the real identities of the hijackers.

‘Think before you portray something wrong…’

Government sources told the news agency, "Netflix has provided an assurance to conduct a content review and guarantee that all future content on their platform will be sensitive to and in accordance with the nation's sentiments."

They had earlier said, “Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. India's culture and civilization should always be respected. You should think before portraying something in a wrong manner. The govt is taking it very seriously.”

The central government has summoned the content head of OTT platform Netflix over the series, which has triggered a row over the depiction of hijackers, contending that nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the nation.

Content head summoned

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 series portraying the 1999 hijack of an Indian Airlines flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.

A PIL was also filed in the Delhi High Court on Monday seeking a ban on OTT series. The plea alleged that the mini-series erroneously shows the real hijackers as having Hindu names, including ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar’, the other names of Lord Shiva, which hurt the sentiments of the Hindu community.

Petition filed

The petition filed by Surjit Singh Yadav, a farmer and president of Hindu Sena, sought a direction to the Centre and Maharashtra government to cancel the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) certificate and ban the public viewing of the series.

“The distortion of crucial facts about the real identities of the hijackers not only misrepresents historical events but also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and misinformation, warranting interference of this court to prevent further public misunderstanding and potential harm,” the petition says.

Using hashtags #BoycottNetflix, #BoycottBollywood and #IC814, several X users shared posts claiming the filmmakers changed the names of the hijackers to 'Shankar' and 'Bhola' to allegedly protect the terrorists who belonged to a certain community.

BJP IT Cell chief Amit Malviya said the hijackers of the IC-814 flight were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities.

"Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names. Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814," Malviya posted on X.

"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 added.

The series was released on Netflix on August 29. It stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur and other veteran stars.

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