India authorities prohibited the distribution of the BBC documentary dedicated to the riots in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002 and the roles of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the then events. On his Twitter, an adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the country Kanchan Gupta said that any fragments of the tape or links to it, published on YouTube or on Twitter, will be blocked in accordance with Indian laws.
According to Gupta, the film India: The Modi Question (“India: Modi Question”) is “hostile propaganda and anti -Indian garbage disguised as documentary cinema.”
He specified that the authorities have already blocked more than 50 tweets with links to this material. Gupta also accused the BBC Corporation of a lack of objectivity and “colonial thinking”.
Riots in Gujarat in 2002 broke out after the train with induuers’ pilgrims caught fire, as a result of which 59 people were killed. A Muslim was accused of arson, after which pogroms and clashes between radical Hindus and Muslims began in the state. According to official figures, 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus died in them. Another 223 people were recognized as missing. The number of victims exceeded 2.5 thousand people.
The current Prime Minister of India Modi at that time was headed by the Gudzharat government. He was accused of not managing to stop the riots. However, the special commission of the Supreme Court of India, created for the investigation, did not find enough reason to bring the prosecution to the Minister.