Under pressure from the Government, Netflix India on Tuesday said it has included the real as well as the code names of the hijackers of the Indian Airlines aircraft in the web series ‘IC814: The Kandahar Hijack’.

This comes after Netflix India content head Monika Shergill on Tuesday met Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju and assured to be ‘sensitive’ to India’s sentiments.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Sanjay Jaju summoned the Netflix India’s contend head, Monika Shergill, to convey the government’s strong disapproval of the depiction of certain elements in the web series.

The web series had triggered a row after a section of viewers objected to the humane projection of terrorists and reference to their Hindu code names, contending that distortion of real identities of hijackers amounted to misrepresentation of historical events.

“For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers,” Shergill, Vice President, Content at Netflix India, said in a statement after meeting Jaju.

She said the code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event. The real names of the hijackers were Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny, Ahmad Qazi, Zahoor Mistry and Shakir. However, the series referred to the code names used by terrorists — Bhola, Shankar, Doctor, Burger and Chief. 

“India has a rich culture of storytelling and we are committed to showcasing these stories and their authentic representation,” Shergill said.

“The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event. India has a rich culture of storytelling — and we are committed to showcasing these stories and their authentic representation,” she said in the statement.

The meeting at Jaju’s office here lasted for about 40 minutes during which the OTT platform official was apprised of the sentiments expressed by a large section of the society and the need to be sensitive while handling such topics.  According to sources, in the meeting, the Government posed tough questions, asking the Netflix India head why no captions or riders were issued to clearly display the real names of the hijackers. The Government also asked why the hijackers looked “firm and sensitive” whereas the negotiators appeared “weak and confused”.

The series, directed by Anubhav Sinha, is based on the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, has come under severe criticism for using ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shankar’ as code names for two of the hijackers.  Using the hashtags #BoycottNetflix, #BoycottBollywood and #IC814, a section of social media users have also objected to the “humane” projection of the perpetrators. Voicing concern over the depiction of terrorists in the web series, a senior official has said nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the nation.

Sources said at the meeting with Jaju, 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.

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”. “We have been supporting content and content creators, but facts cannot be distorted. Under creativity, sentiments cannot be hurt,” the government explained while summoning the Netflix content head.

Sources further cleared that while the government has no immediate plans of banning the series, it has asked officials at Netflix to find a way to douse the controversy.

“Nobody has the right to play with the sentiments of the people of this nation. Indian culture and civilisation should always be respected,” another official source said. “Should we allow any foreign people to slipshod over our cultural values,” the source said without elaborating.

The sources said filmmakers have to think before portraying something in a wrong manner. “You may be liberal, but you cannot portray institutions in a wrong manner,” the source said.

Meanwhile, CPI(M) leader Subhashini Ali on Tuesday said the “Sanghis” are objecting to it fearing that the young generation will know that terrorists were set free by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. In a post on X in Hindi, CPI(M) Politburo member Ali, said, “For Sanghis, the problem with Anubhav Sinha’s Kandahar series is not with the aliases of the hijackers, but with the fact that the new generation will know that during the ‘Amrit Kaal’ of Atal Bihari (Vajpayee), his foreign minister freed two bloodthirsty terrorists from jail and took them to Afghanistan, who gave birth to Jaish-e-Mohammed. Hijackers also got away”.

A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has also been filed before the Delhi High Court to ban Netflix series IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack. 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.