BBC Document on Modi: Rebellious Indian Student Holds More Screenings

An Indian student said he would screen a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi again. The documentary was dismissed as propaganda by the government after Tuesday’s campus screening was interrupted by blackouts and intimidation by protesters.

The Federation of Indian Students (SFI) plans to screen the documentary ‘India: Modi Question’ in all Indian states, its general secretary told Reuters yesterday.

More than a dozen students were detained by police yesterday before a screening at a university in New Delhi, according to broadcaster NDTV.

Modi’s government blocked the airing of the documentary, which it deemed a “propaganda piece” that questioned Modi’s leadership during the 2002 riots in his home state of Gujarat. We also prohibit sharing the clip on Indian social media.

Modi was chief minister of the western state during the violence that killed about 1,000 people, most of them Muslims. Human rights activists set the toll at approximately 2,500.

Mayuk Biswas, general secretary of the SFI, a Communist Party of India (Marxist) student body, said: “They will not stop dissent.”

Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi on Tuesday issued a warning against unauthorized student gatherings ahead of the SFI’s scheduled screening of a BBC documentary on Wednesday night, according to NDTV.

Police then detained more than a dozen students about an hour before the screening, the broadcaster said.

Delhi police did not immediately confirm whether any students had been detained, but said the university was heavily staffed with police and security forces in riot gear.

Police said the deployment was “to maintain law and order” both for screening and India’s Republic Day on 26 January.

In December 2019, the university saw violent clashes between protesters, including students, and police over a new law that would prevent Muslims from neighboring India from obtaining citizenship.

Hundreds of students watched a BBC documentary on their mobile phones and laptops after a power outage hit the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University on Tuesday, student leader Aishe Ghosh said.

The university had threatened disciplinary action if the documentary was screened.

The 2002 riots in Gujarat came after suspected Muslim mobs set fire to a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, causing one of the worst religious bloodsheds in independent India. It broke out.

At least 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, have been killed in days of retaliatory attacks across Gujarat, with mobs roaming the streets targeting minority groups.

Critics have accused Modi of failing to protect Muslims. Modi has denied the allegations, and a Supreme Court-ordered investigation found no evidence to prosecute him. His petition of innocence was rejected last year.

The BBC said the documentary was “rigorously researched” and contained a wide range of voices and opinions, including responses from members of Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.