NEW DELHI:
\nStudents were detained by the Delhi police on Wednesday as they gathered to watch a recent BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India has dismissed as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media.
\nThis follows similar disruptions, some of which turned violent, at gatherings this week by students to watch the documentary that questions Modi\u2019s leadership during deadly riots two decades ago, as his opponents raise questions of government censorship.
\nModi, who is aiming for a third term in elections next year, was chief minister of Gujarat in February 2002 when a suspected Muslim mob set fire to a train carrying Hindu pilgrims, setting off one of independent India\u2019s worst outbreaks of religious bloodshed.
\nIn reprisal attacks across the state at least 1,000 people were killed, mostly Muslims, as crowds roamed the streets over days, targeting the minority group. Activists put the toll at around 2,500, more than twice that number.
\nModi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the riots, and he was exonerated in 2012 following an inquiry overseen by the Supreme Court. A petition questioning his exoneration was dismissed last year.
\nThe government has said the BBC documentary \u201cIndia: The Modi Question\u201d released last week is a biased \u201cpropaganda piece\u201d and has blocked the sharing of any clips from it on social media.
\nThe Students\u2019 Federation of India (SFI) said on Wednesday it plans to show the documentary in every Indian state.
\n\u201cThey won\u2019t stop the voice of dissent,\u201d said Mayukh Biswas, general secretary of the SFI, the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist).
\nAhead of one of those screenings at Delhi\u2019s Jamia Millia Islamia university, 13 students were detained amid a heavy police deployment. The university blamed the students for creating a \u201cruckus on the street\u201d and said they did not have permission to hold the show, police said.
\n\u201cThere is no chance that anybody who tries to disturb the discipline of the university will go free,\u201d the university\u2019s vice chancellor, Najma Akhtar, told Reuters.
\nA day earlier, bricks were hurled, allegedly by members of a right-wing group, at students hoping to watch the documentary at Delhi\u2019s Jawaharlal Nehru University, students said.
\nStudent leader Aishe Ghosh said they were watching the documentary on their phones and laptops after power was cut off about half an hour before a scheduled screening.
\nThe university had denied permission and threatened disciplinary action if the documentary was screened.
\n\u201cIt was obviously the administration that cut off the power,\u201d Ghosh said. \u201cWe are encouraging campuses across the country to hold screenings as an act of resistance against this censorship.\u201d
\nThe media coordinator for the university did not comment when asked about the on-campus power cut.
\nA spokesperson for the right-wing student group did not respond to a message seeking comment. A police spokesperson did not respond to queries.
\nProtests also erupted following the film\u2019s screening at campuses in the southern state of Kerala on Tuesday, while a show was cancelled mid-way at a university in the northern city of Chandigarh, according to local media reports.
\nDerek O\u2019Brien, a member of parliament in the upper house of parliament, wrote on Twitter on Saturday that the opposition \u201cwill continue to fight the good fight against censorship\u201d in reference to the block on sharing clips from the documentary on social media.
\nThe BBC said its documentary series examines tensions between India\u2019s Hindu majority and Muslim minority and explores Modi\u2019s politics in relation to those tensions.
\n\u201cThe documentary was rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards,\u201d the BBC said.
\nIt approached \u201ca wide range of voices, witnesses and experts\u201d and featured a range of opinion including responses from people in Modi\u2019s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, the BBC said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI: Students were detained by the Delhi police on Wednesday as they gathered to watch a recent BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India has dismissed as propaganda and blocked its streaming and sharing on social media. This follows similar disruptions, some of which turned violent, at gatherings this week by students […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-309993","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n