Source : Asian News International (ANI)
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| Indian diaspora in UK protests against BBC documentary on PM Modi (Image copyright © The Times of India) |
London [UK]: The Indian diaspora on Sunday held a protest against the release of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at their Headquarters in Portland Place.
“It has been said in the documentary that there is a discrimination against the Muslim community in India under PM Modi which is completely false. PM Modi has done so much for Muslims which no other leader has done,” said a member of the Indian diaspora.
He said that the propaganda against PM Modi is based on a “total lie” and gave examples of various programmes and schemes of the government which benefitted the Muslims.
“Triple Talaq was ended for Muslim women, free LPG cylinders were given under the Ujjwala scheme, bank accounts were opened under the Jan Dhan scheme and provided with the ownership of their houses. There is no discrimination against any community under PM Modi’s rule,” he said.
He also talked about Prof Tariq Mansoor, Vice-Chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University, who recently wrote an opinion column criticizing the BBC series “The Modi Question” as an attempt to create “false and illogical discourse.”
“Indians Muslims want to move out from the past. We don’t live there anymore. The BBC has assembled 20 years of biased reportage, peppered with outdated condiments and garnished it with lots of misplaced victimhood. The BBC will be wiser if they control their urge to perpetuate victimhood among Muslims. Our community under false pretense were merely used to build their brand,” he added.
Another Indian protestor said, “The BBC documentary on PM Modi is totally false and untrue.”
Notably, the Indian diaspora also protested against the BBC documentary series at Fremont in the San Francisco Bay area of California.
About 50 members, under the banner of “Indian Diaspora”, chanted slogans and marched through the streets of Fremont in the San Francisco area of the United States stating that they “reject BBC’s sinister and biased documentary.” While marching in Fremont, people were shouting slogans like “Biased BBC” and “racist BBC.”
While protesting at Fremont, people carried banners which said, “BBC IS A BOGUS Broadcasting Corporation” and “Indian Diaspora rejects BBC’s Sinister and Biased Documentary against Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” “BBC Documentary spreading fake propaganda,” “BBC is a fake news peddler.”
UK’s national broadcaster BBC aired a two-part series attacking PM Narendra Modi’s tenure as Gujarat Chief Minister during the Gujarat riots of 2002. Prominent Indian-origin UK citizens condemned the series. Prominent UK Citizen Lord Rami Ranger said the “BBC caused a great deal of hurt to over a billion Indians.”
On January 19, India denounced the controversial BBC documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and described it as a “propaganda piece” 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 report, shows the colonial mindset. The documentary sparked outrage and was removed from select platforms.
“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 blatantly visible,” Bagchi said in response to the question on the PM documentary series.
The MEA spokesperson said the documentary is a reflection of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. He even raised questions on “the purpose of the exercise and the agenda behind it.”
“The documentary is a reflection of the agency and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of the exercise and the agenda behind it; frankly, we do wish to dignify these efforts,” he added. (ANI)
