The Narendra Modi-led Union government has ordered blocking of tweets and YouTube videos with links of the BBC documentary on 2002 Gujarat Riots, according to a report.
PTI cited sources to report that such directions were reportedly issued by Apurva Chandra, Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, on Friday under the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021.
The BBC has made a two-part documentary titled India: The Modi Question on the 2002 Gujarat Riots, part one of which was released on Tuesday. It's critical of Hindutva groups and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at the time of the riots. Among other things, the documentary cites a previously unpublished UK government report that said Modi was "directly responsible" for the "climate of impunity" that enabled the Gujarat Riots.
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Government action on BBC documentary
Sources told PTI that senior officials of several ministries, including external affairs, home affairs, and information and broadcasting, examined the BBC documentary and found it to be an attempt to cast aspersions on the authority and credibility of the Supreme Court, sow divisions among various Indian communities, and make unsubstantiated allegations regarding actions of foreign governments in India.
Sources said the documentary was found to be undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India, and having the potential to adversely impact friendly relations with foreign states as also public order within the country.
Orders have also been issued to Twitter for blocking of over 50 tweets containing links of the YouTube videos concerned, said sourcs, adding that social media platforms have complied with the directions.
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Earlier, the Modi government also dubbed the documentary a "propaganda piece". It said the BBC documentary was biased and lacked objectivity.
"We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias, the lack of objectivity, and a continuing colonial mindset, is blatantly visible," said Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on the film.
Despite the Modi government blocking the links, users have shared alternate links to access the film.
What happened in 2002 Gujarat Riots?
In 2002, a total of 1,044 people were killed in communal violence in Gujarat. The dead included 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus. Further, 223 more people reported missing and another 2,500 were reported injured, according to government figures cited in media reports.
On February 27, 2002, a total of 59 Hindus died in a fire in Sabarmati Express at Godhra, Gujarat. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Modi called the incident a "premeditated assault". The Hindutva organisation Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) later said the Gujarat Riots "had to be done".
VHP Gujarat chief Keshavram Kashiram Shastri told Rediff News in March 2002 that a list of shops owned by Muslims in Ahmedabad was prepared on the morning of February 28, a day after the Godhara incident. The Rediff noted, "Shastri was replying to an allegation that shops in Ahmedabad were looted on the basis of a list prepared by the VHP in advance and that the violence was not a spontaneous outburst against the carnage in Godhra."
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Shastri told Rediff, "In the morning we sat down and prepared the list. We were not prepared in advance...It had to be done, it had to be done. We don't like it, but we were terribly angry. Lust and anger are blind."
(With PTI inputs)
