Monika Shergill, Netflix India’s content chief, has been called to appear before the government on Tuesday. This comes amid controversy over how hijackers are shown in the series ‘IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack’.

Top government sources said on Monday that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting told Shergill to come in on Tuesday to explain the controversial parts of the web series.

Know What Is IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack Row 

The series ‘IC 814’, which reenacts the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC 814 by the Pakistan-based group Harkat-ul-Mujahideen, faced backlash on social media because it used only Hindu codenames for two of the hijackers.

When asked why the government took action, sources said, “No one has the right to disrespect the feelings of our people. India’s culture and traditions must be respected. You need to be careful about how you portray things. The government is treating this very seriously.”

The series, based on the 1999 hijacking, tells the story of the passengers and crew’s ordeal and the difficulties the government faced as the flight was redirected to several places before finally reaching Taliban-controlled Kandahar in Afghanistan.

In the series, the hijackers are given the codenames Chief, Doctor, Burger, Bhola, and Shankar. The names Bhola and Shankar caused a major controversy, with critics accusing director Anubhav Sinha of not properly acknowledging that the hijackers were five Muslim terrorists who used Hindu names.

The series is based on the book ‘Flight into Fear: The Captain’s Story’, written by journalist Srinjoy Chowdhury and the flight’s captain, Devi Sharan.

It features Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Manoj Pahwa, Arvind Swami, Anupam Tripathi, Dia Mirza, Patralekhaa, Amrita Puri, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, and Kumud Mishra in important roles.