The BBC documentary series (India: The Modi Question) on Modi’s role in Gujarat genocide was taken down by Youtube and Twitter in india shortly after its release ’ for Gujarat riots in 2002; the Indian government led by BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) has directed YouTube and Twitter to remove links posting the BBC documentary and the two platforms have reportedly agreed to take this action.
The film also made public a British report for the first time that holds Narendra Modi ‘directly responsible for a climate of impunity’ that led to the genocide.
Citing UK government inquiry report, the documentary says that “Narendra Modi is directly responsible” and Former foreign secretary Jack Straw (2001-2006) says in the film that the British team “produced a very thorough report.”
Several tweets and video links posting the documentary, “India: The Modi Question”, have been removed. Trinamool Congress MP Derek O’Brien tweeted that his tweet sharing a link to the documentary had been removed by Twitter. The notice he received from Twitter confirmed that his tweet was removed based on a request from the Indian government.
According to the Indian Express, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has directed YouTube to block multiple videos all of which had contained episode 1 of the BBC documentary (only one episode has been released so far). In addition, Twitter was told to block over 50 tweets that contained links to these videos.
The government used the ministry’s emergency powers under the controversial IT Rules, 2021 as they found it to be “undermining sovereignty and integrity of India” and having the potential to adversely impact India’s friendly relations with foreign states”, which allows the Centre to invoke the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021.
YouTube has also been told to make sure new links with the video, if they are to appear, are also taken down, reported NDTV.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke of the documentary in parliament on Friday, appearing to defend Modi.
A day before that, India’s foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the government thinks “this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative.”
The Supreme Court of India upheld the Special Investigation Team's (SIT) and gave a clean chit to 64 people including PM Narendra Modi, in the 2002 Gujarat riot case last year.
According to government data, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus were killed, 223 more people reported missing and another 2,500 injured during the communal riots in Gujarat in 2001 when Modi was the Chief Minister of the State.