India termed a documentary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on 2002 Gujarat riots as a “propaganda piece” designed to push a particular “discredited narrative”. It also said the documentary is reflection on the agency and individuals that are peddling this narrative again.
“It makes us wonder about purpose of this exercise and agenda behind it,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said at a media briefing, adding that the bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset were blatantly visible in the documentary.
The documentary, released on Tuesday, had claimed that a probe team of the British government had held Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was then the state’s chief minister, “directly responsible for a climate of impunity” that led to the violence.
The documentary titled The Modi Question has been pulled down from YouTube in India. Over a thousand people, mostly Muslims, were killed as large-scale communal violence broke out in Gujarat in February and March 2022 after the coach of a passenger train filled with Hindu pilgrims caught fire in Godhra.
A Special Investigation Team set up by the Supreme Court had claimed that there was no evidence to prosecute Modi and 63 others in the riots case. The top court accepted the report.
Last year, the apex court further dismissed a petition filed by Zakia Jafri, wife of Congress leader Ehsan Jafri who was killed in the violence, challenging the SIT report.
