No, Netflix series 'IC 814' did not alter names of hijackers to sound 'Hindu'

What's the claim?

Several viral posts on X (formerly Twitter) have criticized the Netflix show "IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack" for allegedly 'renaming' the hijackers to make them appear 'non-Muslim.' The posts list the terrorists involved in the 1999 hijacking as "Ibrahim Akhtar, Shahid Akhtar Sayeed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Zahoor Mistry, and Shakir," and claim that the show changed these names to "Hindu names" such as "Bhola, Shankar, Burger, and Doctor." Archive links to these posts are available here, here, here, and here.  

Screenshots of X posts claiming that the showrunners changed the names of the hijackers behind the IC 814 hijacking. (Source: X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The show depicts the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 (IC 814) on December 24, 1999. The flight, en route from Kathmandu to Delhi, was hijacked by five members of Harkat-Ul-Mujahideen, a Pakistan-based terrorist group. After several stops, the plane was flown to Kandahar in Afghanistan, then controlled by the Taliban. The hijackers' primary demand was the release of Pakistani terrorists Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, Masood Azhar, and Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar. These three individuals were released after a seven-day hostage crisis.

Our investigation found that the names listed in the viral posts are actually codenames or aliases used by the hijackers during the incident. These were the names by which the hostages referred to the perpetrators. The show did not alter the names but adhered to the codenames used during the hijacking.

What we found

A keyword search led us to a statement by then-Union Home Minister L.K. Advani on the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) website. The statement mentioned the hijackers' names as "Ibrahim Athar, Shahid Akhtar Sayed, Sunny Ahmed Qazi, Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and Shakir." It also noted that the passengers knew the hijackers by their codenames: "Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar," the names by which the hijackers addressed one another.

Screenshot of the MEA statement mentioning the codenames of the hijackers. (Source: Ministry of External Affairs)

Further evidence is found in Devi Sharan's book 'Flight into Fear: The Captain's Story.' The book, written by the pilot onboard the hijacked IC 814, which we accessed in ebook format, also identifies the hijackers by their codenames—Burger, Chief, Bhola, Shankar, and Doctor. Sharan specifies that 'Shankar' was Shakir, 'Bhola' was Ibrahim, 'Burger' was Qazi, and 'Doctor' was Sayed.

Screenshots from an ebook version of "Flight Into Fear: The Captain's Story" mentioning the codenames of the hijackers. (Source: Flight Into Fear: The Captain's Story/archive.org)

Nilesh Mishra, author of "173 Hours in Captivity: The Hijacking of IC 814," also addressed a similar claim on X (archived here), clarifying that the hijackers used false names to refer to each other and how the passengers identified them. He confirmed the false names as "Shankar, Bhola, Burger, Doctor, and Chief."

News reports from the time confirm that the hijackers used specific codenames for each other throughout the incident. A Los Angeles Times article from January 2, 2000, cites eyewitnesses who referred to the hijackers as Shankar, Bhola, Burger, Doctor, and Chief. Additionally, a Hindustan Times report from August 2003 on the Indian government's response to the hijacking details that "Chief" was Ibrahim Athar, "Burger" was Sunny Ahmed Qazi, "Doctor" was Shahid Akhtar Sayed, "Bhola" was Mistri Zahoor Ibrahim, and "Shankar" was Shaqir.

This evidence demonstrates that the Netflix show did not alter the names of the hijackers to change their religion; the names used are the codenames from the 1999 hijacking.

Controversy over show

The Netflix show, which premiered on August 29, has sparked controversy over the names of the terrorists. Social media has seen hashtags like #BoycottNetflix and #BoycottBollywood trending, with accusations of whitewashing terrorism and downplaying the event's gravity. Reports indicate that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has summoned Monika Shergill, Netflix India's content head, to address these concerns.

The verdict

The claim that the show altered the hijackers' names to change their religion is false. The names used in the show are the codenames employed by the hijackers during the 1999 incident.