IC 814 Kandahar Hijack: “Should be banned, if not rectified” says then DIG Jammu and former DGP JK SP Vaid

Katra (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 5 (ANI): Former Director General of Police (DGP) and then Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Jammu, SP Vaid, reacted to the recently released Netflix’s web series IC 814 and said that the series has no proper mention of the ISIS, such as to clarify their involvement behind this hijack and said that the series should be banned if not rectified.

The former DGP also spoke on the release of terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar from Kot Bhalwal jail during the hijack and said that he had a “disgusting smile” on his face when he went to release him.

“One of the terrorist’s was Masood Azhar. When I went to get him out for release, Masood had a very disgusting smile on his face. Mann toh karta tha kisi tarah se yeh zinda yaha se na jaae,” stated the former DGP.

Speaking to ANI, the former DIG recalled the 1999 Kandahar hijack and said, “I have heard that there is no proper mention of ISI, such as to clarify ISI behind this hijack. Terrorists use Hindu names for a purpose. They want people to think that Hindus executed these attacks. It is the responsibility of Netflix’s management to show their real names and clarify who executed the hijack.”

“It is a good thing that the head of OTT platform Netflix India, Monika Shergill, had a meeting with the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, on Wednesday regarding certain contentious issues on the web series based on the hijacking of IC-814. It should be banned if not rectified,” he said.

The former DGP also stated that there was a lot of hard negotiation with the terrorists for the safety of the 176 passengers onboard.

“After a lot of negotiations, the terrorists first demanded the release of many terrorists. All these demands were made at the behest of the ISI, but there was a lot of hard negotiation, all our people who were involved in this and there was a very hard negotiation. Ultimately it was decided that 3 terrorists would be released,” said SP Vaid.

The Netflix series ‘IC-814: The Kandahar Hijack’ trigged a row on social media over the depiction of the hijackers. Additionally, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed in the Delhi High Court by Surjit Singh Yadav, Chief of Hindu Sena, seeking a ban on the Netflix series.

The PIL alleged that the series distorts the actual identities of the terrorists involved in the hijacking. The petition claimed that the miniseries erroneously assigns Hindu names such as “Bhola” and “Shankar”–names associated with Lord Shiva–to the real hijackers Ibrahim Akhtar, Shahid Akhtar Sayeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry, and Shakir.

After triggering a row on social media over the names of the hijackers in the series , Netflix updated its disclaimer with the real and code names of the hijackers.

“For the benefit of audiences unfamiliar with the 1999 hijacking of the Indian Airlines flight 814, the opening disclaimer has been updated to include the real and code names of the hijackers. The code names in the series reflect those used during the actual event. India has a rich culture of story-telling and we are committed to showcasing these stories and their authentic representation,” said Monika Shergill, Vice President, Content, Netflix India.

The Hijack drama is created by Anubhav Sinha and Trishant Shrivastava. It stars actors Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Arvind Swamy, Patralekhaa and Dia Mirza.

The six-episode series is based on the events of December 24, 1999, when an Indian Airlines flight IC 814 en route to Delhi from Kathmandu was hijacked after takeoff from the Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport in Nepal shortly after it entered Indian airspace.