Govt blocks access to BBC documentary on Gujarat riots

New Delhi: After calling it a 'propaganda piece', the Union government on Saturday directed blocking of YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question', claiming that it undermines the sovereignty and integrity of India and casts aspersions on the authority and credibility of Supreme Court among others.

The move by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting immediately attracted strong criticism from the Opposition, claiming censorship as the documentary exposed how Modi hates minorities.

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

Sources said the directions to the social media platforms were issued by Information and Broadcasting Secretary Apurva Chandra by invoking the emergency powers under the Information Technology Rules, 2021. The two-part BBC documentary claimed it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state. The action came after top officials of Ministries of External Affairs, Home Affairs and Information and Broadcasting viewed the documentary.

They found that it was an attempt at undermining the sovereignty of India, casting aspersions on the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court, sowing divisions among communities by making unsubstantiated allegations on foreign governments, sources said.

The top officials were also of the view that the documentary has the potential to adversely impact friendly relations with foreign countries. Orders have also been issued to Twitter for blocking over 50 tweets, including one by Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha leader Derek O'Brien, containing links to the YouTube videos concerned, they said.

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

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 raj dharma?"

Swamy, who is taking pot shots 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?"