Explainer: IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack — controversy and criticism
Amid the ongoing controversy over IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack, Netflix India’s web series on the 1999 Indian Airlines flight’s hijacking from Kathmandu to Kandahar, Netflix India has updated the opening disclaimer to include the real as well as code names of the five hijackers.
“The five terrorists used aliases or code names such as ‘Burger’, ‘Doctor’, “Chief’, ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shanker.’ As per historical records the names of the terrorists were Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim and Shakir,” the disclaimer now says.
Not just the names
However, the hue and cry appears to be not just about the names. The makers of the web series are facing criticism over other factors, including “giving a clean chit to the ISI, half-baked research and not talking to those actually involved in negotiations/process, a not-so-complimentary/flattering representation of Indian intelligence agencies and an almost humane portrayal of the hijackers who terrorised, killed and injured passengers for seven days”.
Critics argue that when several names, including that of then External Affairs Minister and senior officials involved in the negotiations, can be changed, why couldn’t ‘Shanker’ and ‘Bhola’ also be replaced with some other names.
While initial criticism stemmed from the use of Hindu names ‘Bhola’ and ‘Shanker’ for Muslim hijackers, Information & Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry officials, at their meeting with Netflix India chief Monica Shergill, are also believed to have ticked her off for “absolving Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of its role in the hijack” at the meeting on Tuesday.
The web series is not just “inaccurate, half-baked and childish” regarding the events that actually took place, but also seems like a “PR exercise for the ISI,” critics say.
The Indian team of negotiators was headed by Vivek Katju and included senior officials such as then R&AW chief CD Sahay as well as senior IB official and present NSA Ajit Doval, who did most of the talking with the hijackers. Besides dealing with accusations of “intelligence failure and lack of coordination between agencies”, the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led BJP government was also under pressure from angry relatives of passengers demonstrating outside the Prime Minister residence, reports of the time say.
Other issues
Instead of depicting the hijackers as Pakistani operatives, the series tries to link them to Afghanistan, Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.
However, there was “absolutely no doubt that the hijacking was an ISI operation” and there was also no factual evidence to prove that an Indian agent in Kathmandu tried to stop the plane from taking off on the basis of advance information, reports say.
The Taliban did help the terrorists go from Kandahar to Pakistan, where they were given a warm welcome.
The depiction of the office of the Ministry of External Affairs, the PIB and the subplot involving a newspaper also lacks research.
“It is clear that the makers did not consult officials involved in the incident and mostly depended on the pilot’s account for scenes inside the plane, focusing on political angle and negotiations between hijackers and officials,” critics say.
