Ignoring the police crackdown on students in several varsities for screening of the BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’, student bodies in Hyderabad and Mumbai and the Congress in Kerala on Thursday screened the documentary.
The Centre last week directed blocking of multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary. Meanwhile, student groups at Kolkata’s Presidency and Jadavpur universities and Mumbai’s Tata Institute of Social Sciences have planned multiple screenings of the controversial BBC documentary on their campuses over the next few days.
Though there is no declared ban on viewing the documentary, universities have disallowed students from screening it and the police have cracked down on those defying the unofficial firman. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Thursday screened the BBC documentary at the Shanghumugham beach here for the general public.
The screening of the documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi helmed the western State was first done at the KPCC headquarters here for its staff and party workers, KPCC general secretary GS Babu said. He further said the response indicates that people want to know what is there in the documentary and what it is all about. Various wings of the Congress have already screened the first part of the documentary in several parts of the State.
In Hyderabad, the Student Federation of India (SFI) of the University of Hyderabad (UoH) screened the two-part BBC documentary for over 500 students at the campus’ North Hostel Gate on Thursday evening.
SFI HCU president Abhishek Nandan said the SFI is not looking for any altercation with the ABVP, which is currently screening ‘The Kashmir Files.’
“We do not want to create any ruckus or fight with the ABVP. In fact, we do not want any kind of disturbance. Students just want to watch the BBC documentary,” Nandan said.
Meanwhile, the police in Chennai briefly detained A Priyadharshini, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) Councillor for Teynampet, on Thursday, during a protest against the Union Government’s decision to block links on the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Modi.
Several students were detained on Wednesday at Jami University in Delhi for trying to screen the documentary. The Students of JNU and Punjab University have also tried to screen the documentary on the campus.