Sharath
BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has produced a new documentary called ‘India : The Modi Question’. The first part of the two part documentary spanning one hour each was aired on 17th January 2023 and subsequently the second part on 24th January 2023. It aspires to shed some light on the religious polarisation in the Indian society under Modi’s tenure as both CM and PM.
Part One of the document is focused on Mr. Modi’s political beginnings and his affiliation to RSS from a young age. It also draws attention to the pseudo-nationalistic ideology of the RSS, whose mission of Hindu Rashtra and Akhand Bharat is highlighted. It discusses Mr. Modi’s use of divisive politics to ascend to Chief Ministership of Gujarat and the subsequent religious intolerance and violence in his tenure.
The documentary shows the Godhra train burning and how CM Modi exploited an unfortunate event to gain political mileage which subsequently incited riots. The sting operations conducted by Tehelka back in 2007 regarding Gujarat pogrom are incorporated where Bajrang Dal leader Babu Bajrangi can be seen being boastful about his crimes against Muslims and claimed that the CM being their accomplice would help them evade justice system.
The documentary also shows video statements of many riot victims regarding the inaction of the Gujarat Police during the violence at the time. This corroborates statements of the then IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt who alleged that a meeting was held on 27th February in then CM Narendra Modi’s residence and clear directions were given to the police to not intervene during the riots. Actual footage of riots are shown where crowds are indulging in rioting and looting while police just stand by, effectively facilitating the riots. Thereafter, the SIT probe that found no larger criminal conspiracy in Gujarat Riots can be seen to have solely relied on the evidence of the same Gujarat Police.
There are many clippings of the victim statements throughout the documentary which implicates that the riots were part of larger state sponsored violence. Individuals who openly spoke of Mr. Modi’s involvement in the riots and thereafter faced persecution and suspicious events including IPS officer Sanjeev Bhatt’s arrest and former Home Minister of Gujarat, Haren Pandya’s death are shown. However in these very string of events, the suspicious death of Justice Loya is not included.
Part Two of the documentary deals with the increase in persecution of Muslims under the tenure of Modi as Prime Minister. It speaks of promulgation of divisive laws in an attempt to divide the people in the name of religion. These include the abrogation of Article 370 which stripped the special status given to Kashmir and promulgation of divisive laws such as CAA.
The documentary shows the violent crackdown conducted by the State of India against its people who were protesting against CAA. It does a commendable job in showing the oppressive nature of the Police Force in the country. The Police barging into the Jamia Islamia college library and thrashing students while conducting acts of vandalism, Police pelting stones along with a Hindu mob during the riots in Delhi are shown. Police beating a few Muslim youth to death while making them sing the national anthem and many other such footage which were talk of the town during the protests but have long been forgotten by the broad masses of India are incorporated.
There are certain incidents brought out in the documentary depicting how Modi effectively uses instruments of state machinery to persecute any dissent in order to serve his interests. Amnesty reported numerous human rights violation incidents during the protests which erupted in Kashmir and subsequently Amnesty itself was raided by the NIA in an act of reprisal. After several such systematic attacks, Amnesty International had to suspend its operations in India. It is quite ironic that the documentary which highlighted this witch-hunt is facing the same as tax officials raided BBC’s office in Delhi soon after its release.
The documentary does a commendable job in gathering the statements of victims who have lost their loved ones and have been suffering silently ever since as justice is denied to them even despite the passage of over two decades. It has effectively brought Mr Modi’s shady past and his Hindu fanatic organisation RSS back into popular discourse.
