PM Modi Documentary: Indian diaspora protest outside BBC office in London

Mangalore Today News Network / News18

London, Jan 30, 2023: Amid a series of reactions following the release of BBC’s ‘India: The Modi Question’ documentary, the Indian Diaspora on Sunday held a protest against it outside the UK national broadcaster’s headquarters in London.

 

Several people were seen holding placards against the organization. Many posters had the BBC logo red crossed and called the film “a total lie."

A protestor said that the documentary shows that there is discrimination against the Muslim community in India under the BJP-led central government, which is completely false, ANI reported.

“PM Modi has done so much for Muslims as compared to any other leader," he added.

Listing things that the prime minister has done, the protestor said, “Triple Talaq was ended for Muslim women, free LPG cylinders were given under the Ujjwala scheme, bank accounts were opened."

“There is no discrimination against any community under PM Modi’s rule," he added.

Another Indian diaspora protest in US

Around 50 people from the Indian community were seen chanting slogans and marching  against the BBC documentary at Fremont in the San Francisco Bay area of California.

The protestors were rejecting BBC’s “sinister and baised" documentary and were chanting slogans calling BBC “racist."

One of the banner read, “BBC is a Bogus Broadcasting Corporation."

How has the Indian government reacted to the documentary?

The Narendra Modi-led government banned the documentary that tries to dig up the buried memory of Gujarat 2002 riots, with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) directing YouTube and Twitter to take down links sharing it.

It issued an order under the emergency provisions of the Information Technology Rules, 2021. It has alleged that the documentary aims at “sowing divisions among various communities, and making unsubstantiated allegations regarding actions of foreign governments in India”.

The government has also called it a “propaganda piece that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset”.