BBC Narendra Modi Documentary Screening: At Delhi University, Cops Drag Out Students: 10 Points
The Delhi University College of Arts campus saw police action as students tried to screen a BBC documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi even as the government imposed restrictions.
This is the story as it happens, in the 10 main events
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Students at Delhi University were dragged off campus by police on Friday night as they attempted to publicly screen a controversial BBC documentary series about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the accused community politics binding of the BJP. This comes just two days after similar scenes were witnessed at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi.
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Student activists said the police acted violently even though the aim was for students to watch the documentary peacefully. They also allege that “Sanghi goons” – a reference to members of the BJP’s RSS think tank and its wing – also attacked those gathered for the event. Police in charge Sagar Singh Kalsi said 24 students had been detained and the situation was “back to normal”.
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University officials said there was no permission for the public screening of the film and that the county government also had a ban on any mass gatherings. DU director Rajni Abbi, who called the police, found the police action justified. “Yes, the student was detained. Did they ask permission? When the police imposed Section 144, why did they collect?” she speaks. She alleges that the students “didn’t even care” to show the documentary. “They just want disruptive stuff.”
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The two-part series, which deals with the 2002 Gujarat riots and recent incidents of community violence, has been called false and motivated propaganda by the central government. The government used emergency powers to force social media outlets like YouTube and Twitter to take it down.
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Before the screening scheduled for 5:30 p.m., a large number of students – led by those from the Left and other Opposition parties – had gathered in the area of the Faculty of Arts DU and protested the imposition of Use Section 144 in the area to stop the screening.
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Clashes broke out when groups of right-wing students were said to have come to protest the event. Those wishing to be screened held up slogans “Delhi police, come back”, and police began detaining a number of people believed to be “not students, but anti-social elements”.
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“We were about to start the screening when Sanghi thugs attacked us and started dragging people gathered because of it. The police closed the gate and didn’t allow people to enter the event,” said one student. attended the screening from DU- said. affiliated Hindu colleges.
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The DU official said holding a mass screening was a point of contention. “They can watch it at their home; who’s stopping them?” Director Rajni Abbi said, adding that she suspected they were outsiders. About the police forcefully manipulating students, she said, “First of all, why are they here? [The screening] Not allowed here.”
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The screening effort comes the latest of such protest events held across the country, including in Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata and Thiruvananthapuram. Opposition parties have criticized the BJP for trying to ban the documentary altogether. Student groups led the protests.
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The BBC has defended the series as a “well-researched” journalistic work that highlights important issues.
