FREEDOM OF THE PRESS?

Authorities Raid BBC Offices After India Bans Critical Modi Documentary

The government used “emergency powers” to keep the BBC film from reaching any screens.

Weeks after the government banned a documentary critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai were searched by Indian tax authorities. The country’s government used “emergency powers” to keep “India: The Modi Question” from reaching any screens, with YouTube and Twitter complying with the ban, according to CNN. The film by the British network digs into Modi’s role in riots over 20 years ago that killed over 1,000 people who were mostly Muslim. Modi was the chief minister of the western state Gujarat when Hindus and Muslims rioted. The BBC documentary features ex-British foreign secretary Jack Straw who pointed his finger at Modi for playing “a proactive part in pulling back the police and in tacitly encouraging the Hindu extremists.” The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in favor of Modi, saying it found no evidence indicating blame. “We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” the BBC spokesperson told CNN. Meanwhile, the raids have raised concerns about press freedom in India, with the Editor’s Guild of India calling it a “continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment.”