Lord Rami Ranger, a prominent member of the UK Parliament’s House of Lords, has lodged a protest with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over his documentary series on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a letter to BBC Director-General Tim Davey, Rami Ranger condemned the documentary and questioned the documentary’s appalling timing. He wrote, “The timing of the BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots is appalling as India and the UK are working towards a free trade agreement, India has assumed the presidency of the G20 and the UK has an Indian-origin prime minister.”
He said that by producing such an insensitive one-sided documentary, the documentary showed lack of vision, common sense and judgement. He wrote, “I am appalled by the BBC produced documentary implicating the Honorable Prime Minister of India in the Gujarat riots of 2002, aired on 17 January 2023. The producer has shown a lack of vision, common sense and judgment by making such a production.” An insensitive one-sided documentary.”
BBC released a documentary titled India: The Modi Question. The first episode of the docu-series was aired on Tuesday and was removed from YouTube on Wednesday. The second part of the series is scheduled to air on January 24. The series looks at Narendra Modi’s time as the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
According to the BBC, the documentary will examine how “Narendra Modi’s premiership has been affected by persistent allegations about his government’s attitude towards India’s Muslim population”.
Further in the letter, Rami Ranger complained that the documentary not only insults the two-time democratically elected PM of the world’s largest democracy, but also disrespects the judiciary and the Parliament, which held Modi under scrutiny and removed him. acquitted.
He said, “As chair of the Pakistan-Indian and UK Friendship Forum, we worked for over 25 years to build bridges between the two British communities of Indian and Pakistani origin to improve social cohesion in the United Kingdom Is.”
Prominent Indian-origin UK citizens and other members of the Indian diaspora have strongly condemned the documentary series.
In the letter, Lord Rami Ranger said the BBC documentary had opened old wounds by stoking hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to portray India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted.
Furthermore, the UK lawmaker said that while he condemns the violence and loss of life wherever he is, he equally condemns those promoting religious hatred by bringing the politics of the subcontinent into the United Kingdom.
On Thursday, India condemned the controversial BBC documentary series on the prime minister, describing it as a “propaganda piece” designed to push a discrediting narrative.
Addressing a weekly media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “If anything, this film or documentary is a reflection on the agency and the individuals who are perpetuating this narrative. It reminds us of this exercise.” The purpose of and wonders about it.” The agenda behind this. To be honest, we don’t want to glorify such efforts.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson said the documentary was a reflection of the BBC and the individuals who are retelling the story.
prime minister of the united kingdom Rishi Sunak He also defended PM Modi in the British Parliament regarding the BBC documentary. Sunak also slammed Pakistan-origin British MP Imran Hussain, saying he “does not agree with the characterization” of his Indian counterpart.
(with inputs from agencies)
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