Modi govt comes up with ‘Block in India’ now but truth cannot be hidden: Congress

Congress leader Gourav Vallabh alleged that if the BBC had its headquarters in Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate would have raided it by now

Congress Sunday said the Narendra Modi government has started a new scheme of “Block in India” but the actions like the one on the latest BBC documentary on Gujarat riots has proved that the allegations levelled are true.

Party spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said the government's decision to block YouTube videos and Twitter posts on ‘India: The Modi Question’ is proof for people that what is shown is true.

"Now after Start-Up India, Make in India, we have a new scheme called Block in India. Government does not want us to see the truth or raise difficult questions,” he told a press conference.

Also read | Why did Vajpayee remind Modi of 'raj dharma': Cong's swipe over BBC documentary 'censorship'

The two-part documentary, which the government claimed is a "propaganda piece", reports on the Gujarat riots and examines the role of Narendra Modi as the then Chief Minister in dealing with the situation. The BBC has not made the documentary available in India but links to the documentary were available on YouTube channels.

Meanwhile, sources said, some of the people whose posts were blocked on the government’s directions are exploring legal options to challenge the action. Over 50 posts, including those of Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien and activists Prashant Bhushan and Kavita Krishnan, were blocked on government order.

Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra posted a link of the video now available on archive.org on Twitter and said, "sorry, haven’t been elected to represent world’s largest democracy to accept censorship. Here’s the link. Watch it while you can..."

Vallabh alleged that if the BBC had its headquarters in Delhi, the Enforcement Directorate would have raided it by now.

"If the ED was busy, the CBI would have been used. If the CBI was busy, the Income Tax would have come into picture. If the Income Tax was busy, the SFIO would be in place. If the SFIO was busy, then local police would have done it and if the local police was busy, there is the troll army,” he said.

He said the Modi government should know that truth will not vanish by closing its eyes.

Recalling Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ‘raj dharma’ advice to Modi, he said the BBC documentary was showing what Modi did not do.

"Through ‘Block in India’ you cannot hide the truth. Whether it is the World Hunger Index or the Press Freedom Index or the findings of the UNDP and Oxford University that the poor in India has risen, this government does not accept it,” he alleged.