IC-814 Web Series Row: Netflix Updates Disclaimer With Real Names Of Hijackers

New Delhi: Following a massive uproar over using code names in the IC-814 web series, streaming giant—Netflix—has updated the disclaimer of the web series. In the updated disclaimer, the real names of the hijackers have been added. After taking off from Kathmandu, IC-814, an Indian Airlines plane, was hijacked by five Muslim hijackers. Initially, the hijackers were referred to by their Hindu code names in the web series. This sparked outrage among a section of people as they claimed that this was done to rewrite history.

However, Netflix India Content Vice President Monika Shergil on Tuesday mentioned in a statement that ‘for the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated.’ The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event, she added.

Netflix has also stated that India had a rich culture of storytelling and the platform was committed to showcasing those stories and their authentic representation.

Content will be sensitive to the nation’s sentiments: Netflix tells govt

The move came after Netflix assured the central government that all future content would be ‘sensitive to the nation’s sentiments.’ Earlier in the day, this assurance was given by the content head of Netflix India during her meeting with officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

According to reports, the government had posed tough questions, asking the Netflix India head why no captions or riders were issued to clearly display the real names of the hijackers, during the meeting. The government had also asked why the hijackers looked “firm and sensitive” whereas the negotiators appeared “weak and confused”, sources told News18.

The web series is based on the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 by Pakistan-based terror outfit Harkat-ul-Mujahideen.
The government, then led by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, was forced to release three dreaded terrorists — Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar — from Indian prisons to secure the release of the hostages.