Pooja Kataria, a survivor of the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814, has expressed confusion over the recent backlash against the Netflix series based on the incident. In an interview with ANI, Kataria recounted the traumatic experiences she endured during the hijacking, including panic attacks among passengers, lack of food and water, and demands from the hijackers to convert to Islam.
While talking to ANI she said, “There were five terrorists on board the aircraft. Half an hour after the flight took off the terrorists declared that the flight was hijacked. We were nervous. We were asked to keep our heads down. We didn’t even know we were in Kandahar. People were having panic attacks, so one of the terrorists named ‘Burger’, who had a friendly approach, helped people, and made them play ‘Antakshari’. Terrorist ‘Doctor’ gave a lot of speeches on converting to Islam.”
#WATCH | Chandigarh | Following Netflix’s ‘IC 814’ controversy, Pooja Kataria, a survivor of the IC-814 Kandahar hijacking says, “There were 5 terrorists on board the aircraft. Half an hour after the flight took off the terrorists declared that the flight was hijacked. We were… pic.twitter.com/r2EXgHm2bA
— ANI (@ANI) September 4, 2024
“The other terrorists were named ‘Bhola’ & ‘Shankar’. The series was made for entertainment purposes, I don’t know why people are getting offended…Maybe the (Indian) govt could have tried a commando attack on the aircraft in Amritsar, then then it could not have flown outside India,” she added.
Rakesh Kataria spoke to India Today TV, and revealed he won’t watch the Netflix show because he “did not want to relive the ordeal again.” He did however have this to say about the recent controversy surrounding the show: “I have heard about the controversies, but what Netflix has shown is the truth.”
The recent release of the Netflix series about the 1999 hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 has reignited public interest in the case. The series, which has faced controversy over the naming of the hijackers, has led to a surge in online searches. The series stars Naseeruddin Shah, Pankaj Kapur, Vijay Varma, Dia Mirza, and Arvind Swamy.
READ MORE: PIL Seeking Ban On Netflix’s IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack Filed In Delhi High Court: ‘Perpetuates Misinformation’