BBC documentary India: The Modi Question was withdrawn from YouTube on Wednesday, a day after the first part was telecast.
The ministry of external affairs on Thursday tore into the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said it is a propaganda piece, designed to push a particular discredited narrative. “The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset is blatantly visible,” foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said adding that the documentary has not been screened in India.
Bagchi said “If anything, this film or documentary is a reflection on the agency & individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of this exercise &the agenda behind it. Frankly, we don’t wish to dignify such efforts.”
BBC released a docu-series called India: The Modi Question, the first episode of which was aired on Tuesday and was removed from YouTube on Wednesday. The second part of the series is scheduled to be broadcast on January 24. The series looks into Narendra Modi’s time as the chief minister of Gujarat.
According to the BBC, the documentary will examine how “Narendra Modi’s premiership has been dogged by persistent allegations about the attitude of his government towards India’s Muslim population”.
Rami Ranger tweeted Lord Rami Ranger, a member of the House of Lords of the UK Parliament, condemned BBC’s documentary and said it would hurt over a billion Indians as it insults democratically elected PM Modi and also the Indian judiciary. “BBCNews, You have caused a great deal of hurt to over a billion Indians. It insults a democratically elected PMOIndia, Indian Police & the Indian judiciary. We condemn the riots and loss of life & also condemn your biased reporting.”
Former UK foreign secretary Jack Straw made an appearance in the first part of the docuseries and talked about his “concerns”. He said there was an inquiry into what happened in Godhra in 2002.
Bagchi reacted to Jack Staw’s comments and said, “He (Jack Straw) seems to be referring to some internal UK report. How do I have access to that? It’s a 20-year-old report. Why would we jump on it now? Just because Jack says it how do they lend it that much legitimacy.”