AFTER STOPPING A BBC DOCUMENTARY ON PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI’S ROLE DURING THE DEADLY ELECTRIFICATION RIOTS IN 2002, INDIAN POLICE HOLD STUDENTS IN NEW DELHI ON FRIDAY.
Following other campuses throughout the nation, the students at Delhi University staged a broadcast, despite government attempts to curtail its dissemination by preventing its posting on social media.
After student organisations that supported Modi’s government complained to the screening, police descended on the institution, confiscating laptops and enforcing a ban on gatherings with more than four people.
24 students were held, according to police officer Sagar Singh Kalsi, who spoke with the Indian news outlet NDTV.
According to the two-part BBC documentary, Modi instructed police to ignore deadly riots while he was Gujarat state’s chief minister.
The unrest started after a train fire claimed the lives of 59 Hindu pilgrims. In the context of that incident, courts convicted 31 Muslims of murder and criminal conspiracy.
In the subsequent rioting, at least 1,000 individuals perished, the majority of them Muslims.
The British foreign ministry in a previously classified report described the violence as “politically driven” with the goal, as stated in the documentary, of “cleansing Muslims from Hindu areas”.
“Modi’s Administration’s “Environment of Impunity” Facilitates Riots: Report”
The report asserts that Modi’s administration’s “environment of impunity” is what made the riots possible.
Under contentious information technology rules, India has labeled the series as “hostile” propaganda and ordered major social media sites like Twitter and YouTube to prevent anyone from sharing or watching it.
Earlier this week, the Jawaharlal Nehru University authorities in New Delhi took action against an attempted screening, issuing a warning of severe disciplinary action for non-compliance.
But rebellious groups of students have congregated to view the documentary on laptop and phone screens both there and at numerous college campuses throughout India.
Modi served as governor of Gujarat from 2001 until his election as prime minister in 2014. The United States momentarily imposed a travel ban on him because of the unrest.
In 2012, a team of investigators tasked by the Indian Supreme Court with looking into Modi’s and others’ involvement in the violence reported that they had not discovered any evidence to bring charges against him.