JOIN USScreening of BBC's Modi documentary at TISS disrupted by BJP protests
As criticism grew wider on the ban on the controversial BBC documentary, India: The Modi Question, the BJP staged a protest outside the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) at Deonar, where students have planned to screen the controversial documentary.
Though the students could not screen the documentary through projectors because of protests and security, some of them saw it on their personal gadgets like laptops and smartphones.
The BJP’s Mumbai unit urged Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, to see that the documentary is not screened in the TISS campus.
“Its a bogus documentary, the police should act or else we will have to step in. And those determined to show this documentary in public are escalating tensions. There could be law and order situation,” Mumbai BJP president Ashish Shelar said.
Amid the developments, mixed responses appeared on social media platforms.
The Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF), a student collective at TISS, had announced the screening of the documentary on campus on Saturday in solidarity with students, however, the administration has not cleared it.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party state unit president Abu Asim Azmi, who is an MLA from the Mankhurd-Shivajinagar seat, where Deonar falls, said that it was wrong to ban the documentary.
“The prime minister himself promotes a film like Kashmir Files, which promotes hatred. India has freedom of expression and speech, let people see it,” he said.
In an advisory to students, Prof Sasmita Palo, the officiating registrar, said: “It has come to our notice that some groups of students are planning to screen the BBC documentary that has created a disturbance in some parts of the country. Some plan to organise gatherings to protest against related developments in a few universities.”
The advisory further states: "This is to inform all the students that the Institute has not permitted any such screening and gatherings which may disturb the academic environment and jeopardise the peace and harmony in our campuses."Any action by students against this advisory will be dealt with strictly per the rules. We advise all students to refrain from engaging in such activities in contravention of this advisory”.
The student body PSF-TISS, on the other hand, strongly condemned the TISS administration's move to block the screening and large gatherings for the screening.
“This act by the administration is a direct assault on our constitutional rights. We appeal to the entire student community in TISS and across universities to rise in rage against the ban and attack on free speech by the BJP government as well as the TISS administration. As a social science institute, TISS has always fostered a culture of debate and dissent in campus. We understand the motive behind the ban by the current BJP government on the documentary. But it's not clear why the TISS administration fears discussion on it,” the PSF-TISS said.
Meanwhile, veteran filmmaker Ashoke Pandit urged the Shinde-Fadnavis duo to crack down against illegal screening of the documentary. “How can they screen the film in the public domain without a Censor Board certificate,” he said.