IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack Row: The PIL alleged that the series distorts the true identity of the terrorists involved in the hijacking.

Hindu Sena chief Surjit Singh Yadav has filed a public interest litigation in the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on the Netflix series. IC 814 Kandahar Hijack. It has been alleged in the Public Interest Litigation that the serial distorted the true identity of the terrorists involved in the kidnapping. The petitioner, represented by lawyer Shashi Ranjan, moved the court against the television mini-series “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack” directed by Anubhav Sinha, citing inaccuracies in its depiction of the 1999 hijacking of Indian Flight 814. The petition claims that the miniseries is inaccurate in its depiction of the 814 kidnapping. Ibrahim Akhtar, Shahid Akhtar Saeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry and Shakir are given Hindu names like “Bhola” and “Shankar” – names associated with Lord Shiva.

According to the petitioner, it distorts the identity of the abductors, misrepresents historical events, perpetuates harmful stereotypes and hurts the sentiments of the Hindu community. The petitioner has sought the court's intervention to avoid public misunderstanding and possible harm.

The petition further states that the Constitution of India, which upholds secularism and religious harmony in a multi-religious society, mandates mutual respect for all religions as a fundamental right. It asserted that filmmakers, directors and actors have a constitutional duty not to hurt religious feelings and sentiments. As a result, Parliament enacted the Cinematograph Act, 1952 to regulate feature films and ensure that they followed these principles. The petition seeks the court's intervention to address these concerns in relation to the mini-series “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack”.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has summoned Netflix's head of content, Monica Shergill, in response to allegations on social media that the makers of “IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack” deliberately changed the hijackers' names to “Bhola” and “Shankar”. “

(with input from ANI)