Outrage over drama on hijacked Indian plane IC 814 prompts Netflix to add disclaimer

Netflix said on Tuesday it will add new disclaimers to an Indian series about the 1999 hijacking of a plane after social media outrage and government anger over what they believed were Muslim hijackers being shown as Hindus.

The series called IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack, a fictionalised version of the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines flight 814 from Kathmandu, was released on Netflix last week. It was immediately criticised for what social media users said was an incorrect portrayal of the hijackers as Hindus with Hindu names when they were Muslims. The code names used in the show are reflective of the actual code names used by the hijackers.

Netflix officials were summoned to India’s information and broadcasting ministry on Tuesday, Indian media reported, and the streaming platform said soon after that it would update the disclaimer. There was no comment from the government.

“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,” Monika Shergill, vice president of content at Netflix India, said in a statement.

#BoycottNetflix was trending on X over the weekend, and several users as well as members of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised the series, saying it showed the hijackers in a positive light and misled audiences into thinking they were Hindu.

Amit Malviya, who heads BJP’s social media unit, said the series “legitimised the criminal intent” of the hijackers and misled people into thinking that Hindus hijacked the plane.

India claims Pakistan and militant groups it says were based in Pakistan were responsible for the December 1999 hijack, which was resolved after New Delhi freed three militants, including Masood Azhar, the head of one such group.

The series, which comes nearly 25 years after the incident, stars actors Naseeruddin Shah, Vijay Varma and Pankaj Kapur, among others, and is based on the book Flight into Fear, written by the captain of the flight, Devi Sharan, and journalist Srinjoy Chowdhury.

Netflix, as well as other streamers such as Amazon’s Prime Video, have been at the receiving end of complaints over their content in the past, especially from Hindu groups, who say their content hurts the sentiments of the country’s majority religious population.