NEW DELHI
\nIndian students are defying a ban on a BBC program examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s past, despite arrests and attempts by authorities to prevent them from organizing screenings.
\nThe two-part program, \u201cIndia: The Modi Question,\u201d examines claims about Modi\u2019s role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat that left more than 1,000 dead, most of them Muslims.
\nModi was serving as chief minister of the western state when the violence broke out.
\nThe government banned the documentary over the weekend using emergency powers under information technology laws, but students continued to organize screenings across the country.
\nAt least 13 students of Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi were detained for 24 hours on Wednesday, after they tried to show the documentary at their campus.
\n\u201cWe were handed over to the police by the proctor of Jamia Islamia University. On Friday, the Jamia authorities shut down all the facilities for students,\u201d one of the arrested, Azeez Shareef from the Students Federation of India, told Arab News.
\n\u201cWe grew up with a certain idea of India, with secular values and democratic principles, but this government has attacked everything.\u201d
\nEarlier this week, authorities cut off electricity at Jawaharlal Nehru University when students gathered to screen the documentary.
\n\u201cWe wanted to screen the documentary so that youth can form their own opinion,\u201d said Aishe Ghosh, president of Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union.
\n\u201cThe new generation does not remember what happened in Gujarat in 2002 because they were too young.
\nBut when we see today\u2019s reality, it\u2019s important for the young generation to make the link that the same political party that is in power in Delhi was responsible in some form or another in manufacturing a pogrom in the state of Gujarat.\u201d
\nShe added that universities are where students should have \u201cspace to debate and discuss and differ.\u201d
\nAs the government ban means the film cannot be streamed or shared on social media \u2014 and Twitter and YouTube have complied with a government request to take down links to the documentary \u2014 students argue there is no explicit ban on screenings.
\n\u201cWhere is the order to ban the documentary?\u201d said Abhisek Nandan, president of the Student Union of the University of Hyderabad, which has organized a screening and discussion on the first episode of the program.
\n\u201cThe documentary carries the truth about Gujarati riots that journalists and civil society groups have been telling for the last 20 years.\u201d
\nModi\u2019s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party sees the British broadcaster\u2019s film as manipulation and an assault on India\u2019s judicial system.
\n\u201cA foreign power undermining the judicial system of India is not the right thing to do. The entire episode of the Gujarat riot has minutely been scrutinized by all, including the judiciary,\u201d BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Mittal told Arab News.
\nIn 2013, a court in Gujarat found Modi not directly responsible for the riots. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling in 2022.
\n\u201cThe documentary is an assault on the judicial system of this country. That\u2019s why it is not permitted,\u201d Mittal said.
\n\u201cThe country is right in not allowing manipulation by a foreign power.\u201d
\nThe film could undermine Modi\u2019s reputation at a time when India is chairing the Group of 20 largest economies and will host the G20 summit this year.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s obvious that PM Modi realized that the documentary had the potential to hurt his reputation at a time when he could least afford it,\u201d political analyst Sanjay Kapoor told Arab News.
\n\u201cFor him, the G20 platform provided him an opportunity to showcase himself as a world leader, and he didn\u2019t want his image to be sullied as someone who was complicit in the Gujarat genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI Indian students are defying a ban on a BBC program examining Prime Minister Narendra Modi\u2019s past, despite arrests and attempts by authorities to prevent them from organizing screenings. The two-part program, \u201cIndia: The Modi Question,\u201d examines claims about Modi\u2019s role in the 2002 riots in Gujarat that left more than 1,000 dead, most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":310186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-310536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\n