'Do series on Churchill': BBC series on PM Modi criticised on Twitter

The series 'looks at the tensions between Modi and India’s Muslim minority, investigating claims about his role in 2002 riots'

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has come under fire for a series on PM Narendra Modi, which ostensibly examies his relations with India's Muslims.

Titled India: The Modi Question, the BBC Two series "looks at the tensions between Indian PM Narendra Modi and India’s Muslim minority.”

According to the BBC, the series will examine how "Narendra Modi’s premiership has been dogged by persistent allegations about the attitude of his government towards India’s Muslim population" and that it will "investigate the truth behind these allegations and examine Modi's backstory to explore other questions about his politics when it comes to India's largest religious minority." It will also examine the claims about his role in the 2002 Gujarat riots and the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act.

The series was, however, not received well by Twitter users.

One user said "BBC, Rishi Sunak, do one good with a 4-10 episode series. Title: 'UK: The Churchill Question'. Highlighting the Bengal famine of 1943, story of a region in India (leave alone the country/other colonies) where millions perished by direct & documented orders, no speculation there."

“Keep it coming. The more nonsense they spew, the more we will convince fence sitters to vote for Modi to keep foreigners and their ulterior motives at bay,” another user said wrote.

“Part of the purpose of the series seems to be to influence pockets of urban population in India in relation to the upcoming 2024 elections. Although the consumption of the BBC is very limited in India, it will nonetheless provide ammunition to the media and opposition to use BBC’s previous credibility to spin a narrative. The other part seems to be to portray Modi as intolerant who treats Muslims poorly. This is for BBC’s domestic consumption in the UK as the British are sealing a trade deal with India,” British Indian Adit Kothari, founding member of the Indic Society, told The Times of India.

“Domestically, this should be viewed as a direct assault on the Tory party and on Rishi Sunak by the Left-leaning liberal intelligentsia in the UK. The BBC has been anti-India for decades but in recent years it has shifted to being anti-Modi and anti-Hindu because the Indian PM doesn’t fit into their definition of the eloquent English speaker who studied abroad, like his previous predecessors, and is different from the colonial hangover that lasted in Indian polity for decades,” Kothari added.