Boycott Bollywood trends on social media again amid Netflix’s IC814 controversy; here’s what netizens are saying

#BoycottBollywood is trending on social media, again! This time the centre of the controversy is Anubhav Sinha's new Netflix series ‘IC814’.

Released on 29 August 2024, the series is based on the 1999 Kandahar Hijack. It stars big names from Bollywood, including Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapoor, Manoj Pahwa, Kumud Mishra and Arvind Swamy.

But why is the internet demanding its boycott?

Netizens have accused that the director of the series of “white washing” terrorism and ‘legitimising’ the criminal intent of terrorists who hijacked the Indian Airlines' flight in December of 1999.

The Internet is mostly upset that Sinha furthered the non-Muslim names of the Pakistani hijackers in his series, and claimed it was “Hinduphobic”.

Some users even dubbed him as “a part of the Tukde Tukde Gang”.

BJP IT cell chief Amit Malviya has also called out Anubhav Sinha for furthering non-Muslim names of the hijackers.

'The hijackers of IC-814 were dreaded terrorists, who acquired aliases to hide their Muslim identities. Filmmaker Anubhav Sinha legitimised their criminal intent, by furthering their non-Muslim names. Result? Decades later, people will think Hindus hijacked IC-814," he said.

Call for Bollywood Boycott:

“This is Anubhav Sinha - director of IC814 which depicts hijackers Ibrahim, Shahid etc as Bhola & Shankar. He is a part of the Tukde Tukde Gang - see here in the pic protesting against implementation of CAA at Gateway of India without even knowing what CAA was. Never Forgive, Never Forget,” a user said, sharing a picture of Sinha.

“Names of IC814 Hijackers changed to Shankar & Bhola by @anubhavsinha This is how Bollywood let the TERRORISTS WIN,” a user said.

Amid a call for Boycott Bollywood, #BoycottNetflix has also picked up on X, with a few users calling the Bollywood “Urduwood”.

“These Urduwood people have always made fun of Hindu Gods. They will never make fun of any other religion. It is a matter of shame that Hindus themselves have made these Urduwood people stars. All the Bollywood stars change their colors according to the times like a chameleon #BoycottBollywood #BoycottNetflix,” a user posted.

“Why Terrorists Names as Hindu Shankar and Bhola in Movie Anubhav Sinha? Do you want to say that Hindus are terrorists and the Muslims who carried out the terrorist attack were innocent?” another added.

"This is how the liberals whitewash the concept that terrorism has no religion. This Bollywood always makes fun of Hinduism #BoycottBollywood. Why is Anubhav Sinha, who's behind the new Netflix web series "IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack," altering the facts surrounding this critical event in history?," a user posted, adding, "@NetflixIndia, how can you air something so sensitive without thorough due diligence? Are you not concerned about the impact of distorting such a significant historic event? And @anubhavsinha, what are you thinking? what was the pressure? It’s alarming that the names of the IC 814 hijackers have been changed to "Shankar" and "Bhola" in the series."

One user also tagged the Home Ministry, NIA, PMO and other central government agencies, and requested an “urgent investigation” into the matter.

“Allegations are surfacing that Anubhav Sinha is whitewashing the image of the real hijackers, presenting skewed data and distorted facts. Let’s be clear: the actual hijackers of IC-814 were identified as Ibrahim Akhtar (Bahawalpur), Shahid Akhtar Sayeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry (all from Karachi), and Shakir (Sukkur) who came through Nepal, HuM's contact-hub for attacks on India, and boarded the plane at Kathmandu Airport,” the user posted.

"So why does the series rename two of them as "Shankar" and "Bhola"? Is there a hidden agenda? Has any funding influenced this portrayal? A thorough investigation is urgently needed. @HMOIndia @MIB_India @PMOIndia @NIA_India @PIB_India, please take note and initiate an investigation into this distortion of facts," he added.

But the real question is, did Anubhav Sinha really change the names of the hijackers to hide their religion?

No, Anubhav Sinha did not change names of the Muslim hijackers to "Shankar" and "Bhola" to hide their Muslim identities and show them as Hindus.

According to a BOOM report, citing the 6 January 2000 report of Union Home Ministry, "Shankar" and "Bhola" were the actual code names the hijackers used to address each other during the hijacking. Other code names used were Chief, Doctor and Burger.

The claims on the internet are actually false, and the series, as the story unfolds, accurately depicts the hijackers with clear references to their Muslim identities.