Amidst various conspiracy theories being floated around the BBC documentary, one thing is clear – it is a failed project in building a false narrative against India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The title itself, ‘India: Modi Question’, reflects an evil design; the connotations are all negative. It implies that Modi and his vision of India are under question. So, what is the ‘Modi Question’ that the BBC has in mind?
Nothing new has happened recently to raise this question. Why is the issue of Modi’s responsibility for the 2002 Gujarat riots being raised after 20 years? The public in Gujarat has not disowned him. The state has continuously voted him to power since 20022 and the entire country has endorsed him as the PM since 2014.
Sinister motives
The very fact that the BBC is flogging a dead horse raises doubts about its sinister motives, especially after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) set up by the Supreme Court in 2012 investigated the matter fully and the apex court delivered a judgment in 2022 exonerating Modi of any guilt of complicity.
Is it that the BJP’s massive electoral victory in Gujarat under Modi’s leadership has unnerved lobbies in India and abroad about the electoral scenario at the national level in 2024? Or, is the ‘Modi Question’ essentially that of growing political discomfort in some quarters in the West with India’s rise under a strong leader that will lead to an even greater power shift towards the world’s largest democracy?
Anti-India bias
This is not the first time that the UKbased news channel has come under fire for “manufacturing” and “colouring” stories that have a distinct anti-India bias. But this time, it stands totally exposed for fabricating facts.
For instance, the BBC describes a rabidly anti-Modi ‘activist’ Teesta Setalvad as a “martyr” fighting for the protection of human rights. The fact is that in June last year Setalvad was arrested only after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition challenging a lower court’s refusal to file a case against Modi in the Gujarat violence of 2002.
Similarly, the documentary falsely claims that one of the main issues addressed in the documentary is the 2002 Godhra carnage, where 59 Hindus were killed by a local Muslim mob in a fire on the Sabarmati Express train. The series terms the incident as “disputed”.
Conspiracy theory
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) appointed by the Supreme Court and headed by Justices GT Nanavati and Akshya Mehta found that it was an act of arson. As many as 31 Muslim individuals were found guilty of the massacre by a trial court and convicted. These convictions were later affirmed by the Gujarat High Court.
The Nanavati Commission report also did not find any evidence of involvement of the then Chief Minister or any other ministers in the riot.
The documentary has not only glorified Teesta Setalvad, but also individuals such as RB Sreekumar, and Sanjiv Bhat. All three have been found to have been guilty of questionable conduct. Sreekumar has been accused of framing ISRO scientist Nambi Narayan in a false spy case and thus hurting India’s space programme.
Haren Pandya murder
The documentary has questioned the judicial proceedings in the case involving the murder of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya. In reality, the Supreme Court convicted all the 12 accused, who were earlier convicted by a trial court but were acquitted by the High Court. The SC dismissed the application of a private organisation stating that there was no ground for fresh probe. However, the BBC documentary floats a conspiracy theory on the murder of Haren Pandya.
So what is behind the BBC’s fabrication?
One possibility is the proPakistani and anti-Indian lobbies are countenanced by elements in the British establishment with historic sympathy for Pakistan and lack of affinity with India. The BBC is part of this establishment, judging from the record of its reporting on India. There is another, more sinister, possibility that Pakistan’s notorious Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has a hand in this orchestrated campaign to undermine India.
