The Gujarat Assembly on Friday passed a resolution urging the Center to take strong action against the BBC for maligning the image and popularity of the Prime Minister. Narendra Modi With his documentary on the 2002 riots in the state.
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Vipul Patel said in the House that the controversial two-part series by the British Broadcasting Corporation titled ‘India: The Modi Question’ misrepresents the events of 2002 and seeks to tarnish India’s image globally. tries to Resolution.
The documentary claims to examine some aspects of the riots that took place after the Godhra train burning incident when Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat.
The documentary was banned in India soon after its release.
Patel’s proposal was supported by BJP MLAs Manisha Vakil, Amit Thakar, Dhavalsingh Zala and minister Harsh Shanghvi.
It was passed by voice vote in the absence of the Congress MLAs who were expelled from the House earlier in the day.
After unanimously passing the resolution, with Speaker Shankar Chowdhary saying the BBC’s attempt was “reprehensible” and “strongly condemned”, the House passed the resolution to send its message to the Centre.
Moving the private member’s motion in the second sitting of the House, Patel said, “India is a democratic country and freedom of expression is at the core of its constitution, but that does not mean that a news media can misuse such freedom.” Can do.” ,
“If someone behaves or acts like this (BBC), it cannot be taken lightly. BBC is losing its credibility and working with some hidden agenda against India and the Government of India. Therefore, This House requests the Central Government to take strict action against the shocking findings shown in the BBC documentary, Patel said in the Assembly.
Patel said that through the documentary, there has been a deliberate attempt to “tarnish the image and popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” with an agenda to influence the country’s intention to attain the top position globally.
He claimed that in other countries, opposition parties support the government at such times, but this is not the case in India, which has given power to international organizations like BBC to carry out activities against the country.
The Nanavati-Shah Commission, after a detailed inquiry into the burning of coaches S6 and 7 of the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, 2002, concluded that it was a pre-planned conspiracy and that the subsequent state-wide riots were spontaneous, Patel said.
Patel insisted that the Nanavati-Shah Commission found no evidence that the state government, religious organizations or political parties played any role in the riots and that attempts to hold the then chief minister (Modi) and officials responsible had also failed.
Supporting the motion, BJP MLA Vakil said that while the documentary was intended to tarnish India’s global image, Modi’s life has been a journey of courage and compassion.
He said that as Chief Minister and Prime Minister he has become the most popular leader of the world.
On the 2002 riots, he said that some NGOs and activists conspired to defame the Gujarat government and wanted to damage Modi’s reputation, a larger political conspiracy to destabilize the state government by hook or by crook.
The lawyer cited the Supreme Court judgment giving a clean chit to Modi in the Zakia Jafri case and claimed that the BBC documentary was “mere international propaganda which is totally biased and reflects a colonial mindset”.
Supporting the resolution, Thakar said Modi is not a question but a solution to various issues affecting the world today, such as climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thacker alleged that the BBC has a habit of making controversial documentaries on topics in India.
He also questioned the timing of the documentary by linking it to the conclusion of the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ of the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress.
Gujarat Home Minister Harsh Shanghvi said the documentary was not only against Modi but against 135 crore citizens of the country.
In her speech, Sanghvi said, “The motion brought by Vipul Patel for strict action is historic… Is it Modi’s fault to fulfill the dream of making Gujarat a riot-free state? To ensure that Gujarat does not get a stable government, Many forces worked for.” Home.
He said the ‘so-called intellectuals’ started leveling one charge after another against Modi after he became the prime minister.
Sanghvi said, “As 2024 (Lok Sabha elections) is approaching, they (opponents) have no other issue against Modi. They used BBC to make a documentary.”
He also criticized social activist Teesta Setalvad and said that “the truth about her has not been shown in any documentary”.
Shanghvi also cited “significant people” who commented on and criticized the BBC documentary, such as Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman, British MP Bob Blackman and former BBC chief Mark Tully.
The Gujarat minister compared the BBC documentary to a “toolkit” of conspiracies against India, accusing some sections of the media of suffering from “Modi phobia”.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)