Documentary row: Hindu Sena puts up anti-BBC placards outside organisation's Delhi office

Members of the Hindu Sena on Sunday allegedly put up anti-BBC placards outside the UK-headquartered broadcaster's office on Kasturba Gandhi Marg here over its documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Placards reading "BBC is a threat to India's Unity and it should be Banned" and "BBC stop tarnishing India's image. BBC leave India" were put up outside the main gate of the BBC office amid a row over the controversial documentary.

The placards were removed by the police.

Hindu Sena members also accused the media organisation of conspiring to tarnish and malign the image of both India and Prime Minister Modi.

The BBC is a threat to the unity and integrity of the nation and the channel should be banned in India immediately, Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta said.

He recalled that the BBC was banned in India during the tenure of Indira Gandhi as prime minister. The ban was lifted after the organisation submitted an apology, Gupta claimed.

When asked, a senior police officer said, "Our patrolling team, which was present nearby, spotted the placards outside the BBC office and removed those.

"Some of them (Hindu Sena members) were still trying to display the placards elsewhere but they could not due to police presence and fled."

Legal action has not been initiated as no complaint was received, he said.

Students from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi University and Jamia Millia Islamia held protests here during the past week after the varsity authorities refused to allow screening of the documentary.

The government had last week directed Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary titled "India: The Modi Question". The Union Ministry of External Affairs has called the documentary a "propaganda piece" lacking objectivity and reflecting a colonial mindset.

However, opposition parties have slammed the government's move to block access to the documentary.