Entertainment:  The Netflix series 'IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack' is based on the Kandahar plane hijack incident of 1999. Actor Vijay Verma has played the role of Captain Devi Sharan, who is the pilot during the hijack of the plane. Streaming of this series has started on Netflix since August 29, 2024. The six-episode series is directed by Anubhav Sinha. 

Five terrorists had hijacked the plane

On 24 December 1999, Indian Airlines plane IC-814 took off from Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu for New Delhi with 176 passengers. This plane is hijacked in the air by five masked terrorists. These terrorists take the plane to Kandahar via Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai. The hijacking incident continued for seven days, making it the longest one to date. 

What is the controversy about the series?

The five terrorists who hijacked the plane were all Muslims. Whose names were Ibrahim Akhtar, Shahid Akhtar, Sunny Ahmed, Zahoor Mistry and Shakir. But in this web series, the names of two terrorists have been changed to Bhola and Shankar. This has sparked a controversy. Many users on social media are demanding to boycott the series. Regarding the changed name of the character, the series' casting director Mukesh Chhabra claimed on Sunday that the terrorists involved in this incident used different names of each other i.e. fake names. He also stated that a lot of research has been done to prepare this series. However, now the larger part of his tweet has been edited out and now it only reads, "Thank you, everyone, for loving the ensemble cast. A big thank you to my team, and especially to Anubhav Sinha for trusting us and giving me the freedom to explore. #IC814 #Netflix."

Users trolling the director

A user on social media said that the director is deliberately distorting the facts. An attempt is being made to rewrite history. Another user said, "By turning the tragedy of IC 814 into a ridiculous story, Sinha has shown where his allegiances lie. His allegiances are not with the victims or the truth, but with an insidious agenda that seeks to downplay the brutality of terrorism and defame the Hindu community."