Undeterred Hyd university student body says will screen second part of BBC film on Modi

Even as the University of Hyderabad authorities are probing the screening of the controversial BBC docudrama on the 2002 Gujarat riots and PM Narendra Modi on campus, Fraternity Movement, a Muslim student body, stated its intention to exhibit the second part of “the unbanned documentary” as well.

Meanwhile, Shamseer Ibrahim, national president of the lesser-known organisation, announced that their units in other campuses across the country will also screen the film in the coming days.

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“When power is trying to mask the truth, it is our duty to make the voice of truth and facts louder. Let us be very clear that our other campus units will screen it in the coming days. Let it reach the masses. Join in large numbers,” Ibrahim said in a social media post.

A UoH official told DH that permission was not taken for the screening which took place on Saturday evening near a shopping complex but came to light on Tuesday. Public screening and discussion on BBC's "India: The Modi Question" had a participation of 50-100 people.

ABVP leaders registered their protest and demanded strict action against the organisers “attempting to breach the peace and communal harmony on the campus.”

“As we understand, the film is not banned nor do we have any such official communication (to prohibit its screening on campus). However, we are awaiting the report from the security wing to ponder any action,” the official said. Telangana Police said they did not receive any complaint in the matter yet.

The Ministry of External Affairs had called the BBC series “a propaganda, designed to push a discredited narrative.” The documentary is not accessible officially on BBC platforms in India.

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In a press statement, FM-UoH condemned the “unilateral directive issued by the central government to certain online platforms to block the availability of the documentary.” Afsal Hussain, president, FM-UoH, said that they decided to organise the screening “in memory of the persecuted Muslims and to stand in solidarity with the victims”.

“It is not an entirely new revelation that BBC documentary has made but an affirmation of the already existing narratives which questions the claims of the then chief minister Narendra Modi and his government. As a self-claimed democratic country, we believe that any attempt to curb the freedom of expression goes against its own commitment to democracy.”

Stating the screening “is not an anomaly, but a necessity to cultivate the culture of dissent in the campus spaces,” Haifa Banna, general secretary, FM-UoH, said that “as an unbanned documentary, we will check the possibility to screen the second part with the support of other students' organisations and the students' community in the campus.”

Hundreds of Muslims and Hindus lost their lives in the 2002 Gujarat communal riots.