The Netflix series "IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack," starring Vijay Varma, recently premiered and recounts the harrowing 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight by terrorists.

However, the series has sparked significant debate among viewers and netizens on social media. The hashtag '#IC814TheKandaharHijack' has been trending recently due to controversy over its portrayal of the hijackers and interpretation of historical events.

Directed by Anubhav Sinha, this six-episode series is facing backlash for allegedly distorting the hijacking incident. Critics have accused the series of "whitewashing" by changing the names of the hijackers to "Shankar" and "Bhola," suggesting that the series could be an attempt to offend Hindu communities by using Hindu names for the terrorists.

In response, fact-checker Mohammed Zubair posted on X, clarifying that "Shankar" and "Bhola" were aliases used by the hijackers, supported by information from the MEA website. 

"Why are RW trolls blaming @anubhavsinha? Do check the MEA website for more details," he wrote in his post. He also included a screenshot of the MEA website along with the post. 

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Meanwhile, casting director Mukesh Chhabra has addressed the allegations. He stated, "I am reading so many tweets about the names of the hijackers. We did the proper research. They used to call each other by those names—nicknames or fake names, whatever you want to call them. And thank you, everyone, for loving the ensemble cast. A big thank you to my team, and especially to Anubhav Sinha for trusting us and giving me the freedom to explore."

IC-814 was hijacked by five terrorists on December 24, 1999, 40 minutes after it took off from Kathmandu, Nepal. The aircraft carrying about 180 passengers remained hostage for seven days and flew from Kathmandu to Amritsar and then to Lahore. It was re-fuelled in Lahore and left for Dubai. From Dubai, it went to Taliban-controlled Kandahar, where all the passengers were released on December 31, 2000.

It is adapted from the book "Flight Into Fear" by Captain Devi Sharan and Srinjoy Chowdhury. Arvind Swami, Dia Mirza, Pooja Gor, Patralekhaa, Amrita Puri, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Anupam Tripathi, Kanwaljeet Singh, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, Sushant Singh, Aditya Srivastava, Rajeev Thakur and Yashpal Sharma are also a part of the show.