• Friday, March 29, 2024

Diaspora

Indian diaspora protest against BBC Modi documentary in UK, US

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi (ANI Photo)

By: Shubham Ghosh

It seems the controversy over BBC’s two-part documentary on Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is not getting over anytime soon as the Indian diaspora in countries such as the UK and US staged protests against the British broadcaster over the series.

On Sunday (29), members of the Indian community protested against the BBC at its headquarters in Portland Place, London, alleging the documentary showed things that are not correct.

“It has been said in the documentary that there is a discrimination against the Muslim community in India under PM Modi which is completely false. PM Modi has done so much for Muslims which no other leader has done,” said one person.

Calling it a propaganda against the Indian leader, he said that it is based on a “total lie” and gave examples of various programmes and schemes of the government which benefitted the Muslims.

“Triple Talaq was ended for Muslim women, free LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) cylinders were given under the Ujjwala scheme, bank accounts were opened under the Jan Dhan scheme and provided with the ownership of their houses. There is no discrimination against any community under PM Modi’s rule,” he said.

The protester also talked about Prof Tariq Mansoor, vice-chancellor of India’s Aligarh Muslim University, who recently wrote an opinion column criticising the BBC series ‘India: The Modi Question’ as an attempt to create “false and illogical discourse”.

“Indians Muslims want to move out from the past. We don’t live there anymore. The BBC has assembled 20 years of biased reportage, peppered with outdated condiments and garnished it with lots of misplaced victimhood. The BBC will be wiser if they control their urge to perpetuate victimhood among Muslims. Our community under false pretense were merely used to build their brand,” he added.

Another protester said, “The BBC documentary on PM Modi is totally false and untrue.”

Protest in California

Notably, the Indian diaspora also protested against the BBC documentary series at Fremont in the San Francisco Bay area of California, US, on Saturday (28).

About 50 members, under the banner of “Indian Diaspora”, chanted slogans and marched through the streets of Fremont saying that they “reject BBC’s sinister and biased documentary.” The protesters also shouted slogans such as “Biased BBC” and “racist BBC.”

The protesters were also seen carrying banners saying, “BBC IS A BOGUS Broadcasting Corporation” and “Indian Diaspora rejects BBC’s Sinister and Biased Documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” “BBC Documentary spreading fake propaganda,” “BBC is a fake news peddler.”

The BBC aired a two-part series attacking Modi who was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat where riots broke out in 2002.

Prominent Indian-origin UK citizens condemned the series. Prominent UK Citizen Lord Rami Ranger said the “BBC caused a great deal of hurt to over a billion Indians.”

Even British prime minister Rishi Sunak was seen standing by his Indian counterpart.

On January 19, India denounced the controversial BBC documentary series and described it as a “propaganda piece” designed to push a discredited narrative.

Addressing a weekly media briefing, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson of India’s external affairs ministry, said the documentary based on some internal UK report, revealed a colonial mindset.

“We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias and the lack of objectivity and frankly continuing colonial mindset are blatantly visible,” he said.

Bagchi said the documentary is a reflection of the BBC and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. He even raised questions on “the purpose of the exercise and the agenda behind it.”

“The documentary is a reflection of the agency and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of the exercise and the agenda behind it; frankly, we do wish to dignify these efforts,” he added.

The Modi government asked social media giants such as Twitter and YouTube to take down materials in connection with the documentary, a move which saw the country’s opposition accusing it of imposing censorship.

(ANI)

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