Pro-CPI(M) and pro-Congress outfits in Kerala to screen BBC documentary on Modi

The two-part BBC documentary has been trashed by the Ministry of External Affairs as a 'propaganda piece'

While various pro-CPI(M) and pro-Congress outfits in Kerala have announced that BBC's documentary 'India: The Modi Question' will be screened in the state, BJP petitioned Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan against the move.

Kerala unit of CPI(M)'s youth wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and student outfit Students Federation of India (SFI) as well as minority department of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) announced that the documentary would be screened in Kerala.

DYFI kicked off the political storm in the state over the documentary by announcing on its Facebook page that it would be shown in the state.

While DYFI and SFI were learnt to be planning to screen the documentary at various parts of the state on Tuesday, KPCC-minority department is planning to screen it on Republic day in all districts.

Meanwhile, BJP state president K Surendran urged the Chief Minister not to give permission for screening the documentary. "The state government should not support attempts of external forces to destroy the country's harmony. The documentary over a two-decade-old unfortunate incident was aimed only at triggering communal unrest," Surendran said in a petition to the Chief Minister.

Union Minister of State for External Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan also urged the CM not to allow screening of the documentary and sought his urgent intervention in the matter.

In a Facebook post, Muraleedharan said that re-introduction of allegations rejected by the Supreme Court questions the credibility of the highest court of the country. Both Muraleeedharan and Surendran have dubbed the screening of the documentary as "treason".

SFI, in its Facebook post, said the documentary would be screened in various college campuses in the state. State Youth Congress president Shafi Parambil, in a FB post, said that reminders of betrayal and genocide cannot be hidden by power and the BBC documentary will be screened in Kerala.

KPCC minority cell chairman, advocate Shihabuddin Karyat, in a statement said that the documentary would be screened in district headquarters of the party on Republic Day in view of the undeclared ban on it in the country.

The Centre had last week directed blocking of multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary. The two-part BBC documentary, which claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of that state, has been trashed by the Ministry of External Affairs as a "propaganda piece" that lacked objectivity and reflected a "colonial mindset".

The directions on blocking access were understood to have been issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Friday using the emergency powers under the IT Rules, 2021. The central government's move has received sharp criticism from opposition parties like the Congress and the TMC for imposing "censorship".

At the same time a group of 302 former judges, ex-bureaucrats and veterans slammed the BBC documentary as a "motivated charge sheet against our leader, a fellow Indian and a patriot" and a reflection of "dyed-in-the-wool negativity and unrelenting prejudice".

(With PTI inputs)