Screening of BBC Documentary on PM Modi at Visva Bharati University Foiled As Rajnath Singh Visits Campus

BBC Modi Series Row: The banned BBC documentary was earlier screened at the Presidency University and Jadavpur University by the Left students' wing, SFI, without any permission from varsity authorities

Kolkata: A Left-leaning student group was prevented from screening the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Visva-Bharati University on Thursday evening as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh visited the campus to attend a cultural function organised by the authorities. Singh, who will attend the Convocation of the central university on Friday, reached the campus on Thursday afternoon.

According to reports, a group of students decided to screen the controversial documentary after hearing the news of Rajnath Singh's arrival ''to express silent protest against freedom of expression.''

A spokesperson of the Democratic Students Organisation (DSO), the student's wing of the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), said both the university authorities and the police prevented them from screening "India: The Modi Question'' on ground by not allowing a projector and a screen inside the campus.

"We had initially thought about screening the film in January but later on decided to defer it. After coming to know that Rajnath Singh, who is an important member of the Narendra Modi cabinet, would reach Visva-Bharati on Thursday, we decided to screen it in the evening,” he said.

A police official said there was no information about any screening of the said BBC documentary on the campus and the police took the required steps as per standard security protocols owing to the presence of a VVIP like the defence minister.

Earlier, Singh arrived in a helicopter at the campus and discussed the university's academic activities with Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty. He later watched a cultural programme performed by students of Visva-Bharati.

However, the move has been severely criticised by the BJP. BJP's Birbhum district president Dhruba Saha said that a member of a students' wing "with Maoist affiliation" had deliberately planned this screening at the time of the Defence Minister's visit just to insult him. "These fake leftists tried to create a similar ruckus within Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi over this documentary. However, the people of India do not trust them and they are totally isolated from the people," he claimed.

The banned BBC documentary was earlier screened at the Presidency University and Jadavpur University by the Left students' wing, SFI, without any permission from varsity authorities.

The two-part documentary "India: The Modi Question" features the role of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was the chief minister of the state during the 2002 riots. The ruling government thrashed the documentary and termed it as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.

On January 21, the government had issued directions to block multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary. Several opposition parties slammed the government's action and said they would oppose any censorship.

The Supreme Court has dismissed a plea seeking the imposition of a complete ban on the BBC in India in the wake of the controversial documentary, terming the petition "entirely misconceived" and "absolutely meritless".