On Thursday, 19th January 2023, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismissed the villainous portrayal of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a BBC documentary. Responding to Imran Hussain, a Pakistani-British Muslim MP, who quoted the characterization showcased by BBC in its documentary series while asking a question to the British PM in the British parliament, the PM said that he does not agree with the characterization of his Indian counterpart in the documentary.
Imran Hussain asked, “Mr. Speaker, last night the BBC revealed the foreign office knew the extent of the involvement of Narendra Modi in the Gujarat massacre that paved the way for the persecution of Muslims and the other minorities we see in India today. With the senior diplomats reporting that the massacre could not have taken place without a climate of impunity created by Modi and he was in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s own words directly responsible for this violence, given that hundreds were brutally killed and the families across India and the world including here in the UK are still without justice, does the Prime Minister agrees with his diplomats in the foreign office that Modi was directly responsible and just what more does the foreign office know of his involvement in this grave act of ethnic cleansing?”
That’s what the @BBC wants. Join hands with the far left labour MPs to question the legitimacy of the Modi govt.
— Smita Deshmukh🇮🇳 (@smitadeshmukh) January 19, 2023
Good shutdown by Rishi Sunak.#DefundtheBBC pic.twitter.com/EUdv8Czsjm
To this, PM Rishi Sunak replied, “Mr. Speaker, the UK government’s position on this has been clear in long-standing and has not changed. Of course, we don’t tolerate persecution anywhere, but I am not sure I agree at all with the characterization the honourable gentleman has put forward.”
UK’s National broadcaster BBC aired a two-part series documentary on BBC Two channel attacking PM Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. The documentary sparked outrage and was removed from select platforms.
India on Thursday denounced the controversial BBC documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and described it as a “propaganda piece” that is designed to push a discredited narrative.
Addressing a weekly media briefing External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi said this documentary show, based on some internal UK reports, shows the colonial mindset. “We think this is a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative. The bias and the lack of objectivity and frankly continuing colonial mindset are belatedly visible,” Bagchi said in response to the question on the PM documentary series.
It is notable that several courts in India including the Supreme Court have ruled on multiple occasions that the Gujarat riots were brought under control quickly and there is no evidence that the state govt had asked police to not take action against the rioteers.
