Hindu names for Pakistani terrorists: IB Ministry schools Netflix on Kandahar Hijack series, OTT giant assures course correction

The series, based on the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, has drawn a severe backlash, leading to an hour-long meeting between the US streaming giant and the Centre, media reports said.

Netflix India content head Monika Shergill gave assurance to the government about being cautious in future during her meeting with officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Tuesday.

The government said it was taking the issue "very seriously" and underscored that nobody had the "right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation," according to an India Today report.

"We have been supporting content and content creators, but facts cannot be distorted. Under creativity, sentiments cannot be hurt," the government said while summoning the Netflix content head, the report stated.

The series is directed by Anubhav Sinha and written by Adrian Levy and Trishant Srivastava.

Produced by Sarita Patil and Sanjay Routray under Matchbox Shots and Benaras Mediaworks, it stars an ensemble cast led by Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Dia Mirza and Arvind Swamy.

The film has been slammed by different quarters for its portrayal of the hijackers from the ill-fated flight, particularly because of the  renaming of the characters to "Bhola" and "Shankar," names traditionally linked to Lord Shiva.

Many critics view this as a distortion of historical truth, arguing that it misrepresents the actual identities of the terrorists and is offensive to Hindu sentiments.

"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 as well as children's sensitivity," government sources were quoted as saying by the India Today.

On Tuesday, Netflix India also clarified that it has updated the series' opening disclaimer to mention the real and code names of the hijackers.

The controversy sparked a war of words on social media.

On platforms such as X (formerly Twitter), hashtags like #BoycottNetflix and #BoycottBollywood began trending, with users condemning the filmmakers of rewriting history and downplaying the terror caused by the real hijackers.

However, a document from the Union Home Ministry, published shortly after the 1999 hijacking, makes the facts clear.

The statement back then categorically stated that the hijackers - Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Shakir a.k.a Rajesh Gopal Verma, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, Shahid Akhtar Sayed and Ibrahim Athar used nicknames like Bhola, Shankar, Doctor and Burger to address each other inside the plane.

"To the passengers of the hijacked place these hijackers came to be known respectively as (1) Chief, (2) Doctor, (3) Burger, (4) Bhola and (5) Shankar, the names by which the hijackers invariably addressed one another," the old government statement reads.

The release of 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' precipitated a verbal war on social media between the BJP and the Opposition members.

Amit Malviya, the BJP IT Cell chief, accused the filmmakers of pushing an agenda to whitewash the crimes of Pakistani terrorists by assigning them Hindu names, obscuring the truth from the future generations.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Shiv Sena-UBT leader Priyanka Chaturvedi criticized the backlash as targeted, highlighting the inconsistencies in calls for historical accuracy in cinema.

According to Anand Ranganathan, author, scientist and academic, the Hindus are tired of selective targeting and double standards when it comes to freedom of expression.

"If it isn’t the gau mutra (cow urine) jibes, the ads, the stand-up comics, or the utterances of parties like the DMK, it is the whitewashing OTT dramas.  Enough is enough," he posted on X. 

1999 IC 814 Hijack

On December 24, 1999, Flight IC 814, carrying 176 passengers from Kathmandu to Delhi, was hijacked and diverted to several locations before finally landing in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Terrorists before the hijacked plane (Flight IC 814) in 1999. Photo: Wikipedia Creative Commons

The crisis lasted seven days, ending after the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government agreed to some of the hijackers' demands, releasing three notorious terrorists—Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar—in exchange for the hostages.

One passenger- newly-wed Rupin Katyal, who was on his honeymoon-  lost his life during the siege.