INDIA: Indian civil society has slammed the BBC’s “India: The Modi Question” documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. A group of 13 former judges, 133 former bureaucrats, including ambassadors, and 156 veterans criticized the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, calling it “as mind-numbingly unsubstantiated as it is nefarious” and full of “motivated distortion.”
In an open letter, they said that the documentary ignores that the Supreme Court of India had clearly ruled that Modi had nothing to do with the Gujarat riots of 2002. It also ruled against claims that the state government he led was involved in the riots and did nothing to stop them.
They claimed that the BBC documentary has called the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) unfair to Muslims. But this law was made to protect religious minorities in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Bangladesh who were being persecuted for their faith. It has nothing to do with Indian Muslims.
“Similarly, Article 370 was a temporary provision of the Constitution of India, never meant to be permanent. Thus, its removal was in no manner a violation of constitutional norms,” the letter reads.
They asserted that the documentary represents the archetype of previous British imperialism in India, acting as both judge and jury to revive Hindu-Muslim tensions primarily resulting from the British Raj’s “divide and rule” strategy.
Those who signed the letter are former RAW chief Sanjeev Tripathi, former home secretary L C Goyal, former foreign secretary Shashank, and former NIA director Yogesh Chander Modi. Anil Deo Singh, a former chief justice of the Rajasthan High Court, is another signatory.
“BBC’s ‘India: The Modi Question: Delusions of British Imperial Resurrection? Not this time. Not with our leader. Not with India. Never on our watch,” they said.
“Regardless of whom you, as an individual Indian, might have voted for, the Prime Minister of India is our country’s Prime Minister. We cannot allow just about anyone to run amok with their deliberate bias, their vacuous reasoning…”
The first two parts of this BBC documentary aired on January 17th, and the second will air on Tuesday.
Also Read: Central Government Criticises BBC’s Documentary on PM Modi
