Govt blocks access to BBC documentary on 2002 Gujarat riots

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs had described the BBC documentary as a 'propaganda piece' that lacked objectivity and reflected a colonial mindset

In what is described by the Opposition as "censorship" due to "exposing" Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Union Government has directed for the blocking of YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question'.

As the documentary attracted eyeballs for critical remarks on Narendra Modi's handling of the 2002 Gujarat riots, the government sprung into action invoking emergency provisions of the Information Technology Rules, 2021 to direct social media platforms to take down links and posts of the documentary.

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The tweets which were blocked included that of Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien.

The two-part documentary, termed a "propaganda piece" by the government, claimed to have investigated certain aspects relating to the Gujarat riots when Modi was the chief minister of the state. The BBC has not made the documentary available in India but links of the documentary on YouTube channels were available.

The move by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting immediately attracted strong criticism from the Opposition, which recalled then Prime Minister AB Vajpayee's 'follow raj dharma' advice to Modi back then while claiming that the documentary exposed Modi's "hatred" towards minorities.

Former BJP MP Subramanian Swamy added fuel to the fire by asking why is the Modi government "so rattled" by a programme which is not being seen by the masses and whether it was an admission that BBC English could be understood by Indian masses.

The action came after top officials of Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and Information and Broadcasting viewed the documentary who claimed that it was an attempt at undermining the sovereignty of India, casting aspersions on the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court and sowing divisions among communities by making unsubstantiated allegations on foreign governments.

Based on their argument, which also included that it has the potential to adversely impact India's friendly relations with foreign States as also public order within the country, Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra issued the directions to the social media platforms to pull off the links and posts.

YouTube has been directed to block posts if it is again uploaded on its platforms while Twitter has been asked to identify and block the tweets containing the link to the video on other platforms.

O'Brien tweeted, "Censorship. Twitter has taken down my tweet of the BBC documentary. It received lakhs of views. The one-hour BBC documentary exposes how the Prime Minister hates minorities."

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh tweeted, "The Prime Minister and his drum beaters assert that the new BBC documentary on him is slanderous. Censorship has been imposed. Then why did PM Vajpayee want his exit in 2002, only to be pressured not to insist by the threat of resignation by Advani? Why did Vajpayee remind him of his rajdharma?"

Swamy, who is taking potshots at the Modi government for the past couple of years, tweeted, "why is the Modi govt be so rattled by a BBC programme which is not being seen by the broad masses of India? Or is it an admission that the BBC English language can be understood by the Indian masses?"

Earlier, a BBC documentary on the Nirbhaya case called India's Daughter directed by well-known filmmaker Leslie Udwin also faced a ban in India after it featured interviews of the convicts, who were later executed. It had then led to changes in the process for gaining access to inmates of the country's prisons.