The series The Attack on IC 814 is under fire in India. Anubhav Sinha’s six-part series, which has been streaming on Netflix since August 29, focuses on the hijacking of Indian airliner IC 814 in December 1999. The series is based on the memoirs of Captain Devi Sharan, who was at the controls of the plane. The plane was supposed to fly from Kathmandu to Delhi, but was diverted to Kandahar, Afghanistan, then ruled by the Taliban, to secure the release of terrorists held in India.
The subject is explosive in an India marked by an increasingly virulent Hindu nationalism. “The controversy erupted when some viewers accused the series of deliberately falsifying the religious identities of the five terrorists involved in the hijacking,” summary The Indian Express. The controversy is more specifically about the “Hindu names” used as pseudonyms by the Pakistani hackers involved in the hijacking. “In the series, the five hijackers are referred to by code names.” as “Soccer” et “Shankar”Hindu names.
Non-Muslim pseudonyms
Amit Malviya, a senior member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has attacked the X-rated series, saying that by giving pseudonyms “non-Muslims” to the hijackers, the directors had made sure that people “believe Hindus hijacked IC 814”. The hijackers had indeed used the code names used in the series. A statement from the Indian Home Ministry dated January 6, 2000 confirms this, indicating The Indian Express. “Netflix has been summoned by the federal government,” specifies the site of the BBC.
“The hijacking of the plane, which lasted eight days, ended with an agreement between the Indian government and the hijackers”recalls the BBC. In exchange for the passengers, one of whom was killed by the hijackers, India notably released Masood Azhar, an Islamist terrorist who founded the Jaish-e-Mohammed group after his release. The group operates in Kashmir and has claimed responsibility for several attacks in India. It has also been designated a terrorist group by the United Nations.
[…] - Courrier international
