BBC Documentary Blocked: Modi Controversy and Censorship in India

News Source: The Guardian

The Indian government has utilized emergency laws to prohibit a BBC documentary that investigates the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the 2002 riots in Gujarat, a western state of India.

Narendra Modi, former chief minister of Gujarat, responding to queries before a panel appointed by the supreme court to investigate the 2010 riots in Gandhinagar. Photo credit: Ajit Solanki/Associated Press

 

Controversy has erupted in India over the first part of the two-episode program titled "India: The Modi Question," which traces Modi's rise within the Bharatiya Janata Party and his appointment as chief minister of Gujarat. The documentary, produced by the BBC, has uncovered memos that reveal criticism of Modi's conduct by western diplomats and the British government at the time, including a government report that described the riots as having "all the hallmarks of an ethnic cleansing."

 

Modi has long been haunted by allegations of complicity in the violence that occurred during the Gujarat riots, which were sparked by the deaths of 59 Hindu pilgrims on a train that was set on fire, with the blame falling on the state's Muslim population. Nearly 1,000 Muslims lost their lives in the ensuing violence across the state, with accusations of police inaction and even tacit support from Modi towards the Hindu extremist groups. While Modi has denied allegations of failure to stop the riots and a supreme court panel in 2013 found insufficient evidence to prosecute him, the documentary has brought the issue back to the forefront.

 

The first part of the documentary was aired in the UK last week, but has not been broadcast in India. However, unauthorized video clips from the program have been circulating on social media, prompting a vehement response from the Modi government, which has labeled the documentary as "propaganda" with a "colonial mindset." The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India has issued directions banning the sharing of clips from the episode under emergency legislation introduced in 2021 that allows for information blocking in times of crisis.

 

The decision to block the documentary comes in the midst of a challenging environment for media and press freedom under the Modi government, with critical journalists and media facing state and judicial harassment. India's press freedom index ranking slipped eight places to 150 out of 180 countries last year, its worst position on record.

 

The ban on the BBC documentary has been met with outrage from opposition politicians, who have accused the Modi government of censorship. Despite the ban, some politicians and activists have shared clips of the documentary on social media, criticizing the government's actions and questioning why a documentary on Modi is blocked while a film glorifying Gandhi's assassin, Nathuram Godse, is being released without challenge.