The BBC documentary discusses Prime Minister Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat riots in which more than a thousand people died.
In India, the authorities have continued their tax raids on the offices of the British broadcasting company BBC in New Delhi and Mumbai.
According to the country’s opposition and press freedom activists, the reason behind the raids is a documentary published by the BBC in Britain in January, which critically discusses the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The first part of the two-part documentary India:The Modi Question (2023) examines Modi’s role in the 2002 Gujarat violence that killed more than a thousand people, most of whom were minority Muslims. Modi was then the Chief Minister of the state of Gujarat.
Although the documentary was only shown in Britain, the Indian government introduced an emergency law banning the sharing of documentary clips on social media.
According to the Indian government, there are no political motives behind the tax raids. However, a ruling party spokesperson stated after the raids began that the BBC was involved in “spreading anti-Indian propaganda”. He also called the public broadcasting company “the most corrupt organization in the world”.
A representative of the opposition Indian Congress Party stated BBC’s (switching to another service) that the raids speak to the government’s “desperation and show that the Modi government is afraid of criticism”.
The BBC has assured that it will cooperate with the Indian tax authorities.
India has dropped ten places in the international press freedom index since Modi came to power in 2014. India ranks 150th out of 180 countries.
Sources: AFP, Reuters