Two 'rights groups' to screen BBC Modi documentary in Washington ahead of PM's visit

Ahead on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, two ‘human rights groups’ have decided to screen BBC documentary on the Indian Prime Minister that questions his leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have invited policy makers, journalists and analysts to a private screening that will be held in Washington on 20 June, two days ahead of PM Modi’s official state visit hosted by President Joe Biden.

After announcing the screening, Human Rights Watch said it wanted it to serve as a reminder that the documentary had been banned in India.

What is the BBC documentary about?

The documentary, India: the Modi Question, is a two-part series focused on Modi’s leadership as chief minister of Gujarat during riots in 2002 in which at least 1,000 people were killed, most of them Muslims. Activists put the toll at more than twice that.

The documentary revisits allegations from two decades ago, when PM Modi was chief minister of Gujarat. It was during this time that 60 Hindu pilgrims were killed when their train carriage was set alight. The cause of the fire was disputed but the Muslim community was blamed and it set off a wave of bloody retaliatory violence, with Hindu mobs targeting the homes of Muslims across the state.

In the aftermath, Modi’s state government was accused of complicity in the violence by encouraging the Hindu mobs and directing the police to stand aside as Muslim households were attacked. The allegations of his role in the communal violence have dogged PM Modi for years, leading to him being banned from the US owing to “very serious” doubts over the part he had played.

In 2012, Modi was cleared of complicity in the violence by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the supreme court of India, after they could not find adequate evidence, a verdict that was upheld in 2022. After he was elected as prime minister in 2014, Modi’s US visa ban was lifted.

Modi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to stop the riots, and a Supreme Court-ordered investigation found no evidence to prosecute him.

The Indian government had reacted angrily to the documentary, which was released in January, calling it a biased “propaganda piece” and blocked sharing of any clips from it on social media.

The White House last month defended Modi’s planned state visit when asked about human rights concerns in India. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden believes “this is an important relationship that we need to continue and build on as it relates to human rights.”

Advocacy groups have raised concerns over what they see as a deteriorating human rights situation in India in recent years under the BJP of PM Modi, especially when it comes to treatment of minorities, dissidents and journalists. The government denies the allegations and says it works for the upliftment of all groups.

Tax officials inspected offices of the BBC in Delhi and Mumbai in February and the financial crime agency opened an investigation into the broadcaster in April over charges of violations of foreign exchange rules. A government adviser had said the inspection was not “vindictive.”

The BBC has previously said it stood by its reporting for the documentary, which was not aired in India, and that it “does not have an agenda.”

With inputs from agencies

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