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PIL Filed Against Netflix Series ‘IC 814’ for Distorting Hijacker Identities
A PIL has been recently filed in Delhi High Court against the Netflix series *IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack* citing that the portrayal of hijackers in the series are misleading. The PIL presented by the concerned parties claims that the series which depicts a real and highly sensitive historical incident distorts the real characters involved in the hijacking and misleads the viewers and misleads the society.
The abduction of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 on December 24 , 1999 is one of the worst incidences of hijacking that Indian aviation industry witnessed . The aircraft which was flying from Kathmandu to Delhi was hijacked by the terrorists of the banned outfit Jaish-e- Mohammed. The hijackers then change the flight route to Kandahar in Afghanistan and released the passengers after a few days. The intense stakes that followed, the hostage release negotiations and the outcomes of such prospects have had severe implications in terms of politics and diplomacy. As the authorities of India thought of the welfare of the individuals in the plane, they decided to release several terrorists detained in India to ensure the freedom of the hostages who were held captive in Pakistan.
These concern the Netflix series saying that although the makers of this series sought to enthrall the public with dramatic presentation of these incidents, certain crucial details about the hijackers has been changed. To that end, the petition alleges that the series distorts facts: identity and motives and actions of the terrorists. This the petitioners state could create confusion to the public, distort history and influence the mindset of the recipients or viewers particularly where they may not have prior knowledge of the actual occurrence of such events.
The petitioners argue that there are many liberties normally taken during the dramatization, however, the social facts show that it is unfair to distort history; especially on sensitive issues like; terrorism and hostage crises. They contend that errors in the series could distort the severity of the occurrence and the untidy aftermath hence erasing the memory of the victims, their families, and officials who led the crisis.
To this end, the PIL prays to the courts on these issues. Based on the grievances raised by the petitioners, they would want the court to order Netflix to either get the series fact-checked and corrected or place a disclaimer stating that the series is fictional. They also look for ways by which, in future productions, these distortions do not deceive the public or bring out wrong versions of the truth.
This decision in the present PIL might help to decide how history is portrayed in media and regulated in future and may also decide how streaming sites and Apps’ deal with troubling historical elements and depictions in their content.
