A spokesperson of the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday said that the BBC is an independent organisation amid widespread Hindutva campaign and state crackdown in India against its documentary on PM Modi and his leadership during 2002 Gujarat Muslim genocide and anti-Muslim violence.
The two episodes of the documentary, titled India: The Modi Question, were released on January 17 and January 24.
“The BBC is independent in its output and we would stress that we continue to regard India as an incredibly important international partner,” the spokesperson said in response to a question about India’s criticism against the documentary, PTI reported.
“We’ll be investing heavily in our relationship with India over the coming decades and we’re confident it will only go from strength to strength,” the spokesperson said.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs had said that the documentary lacked objectivity and portrayed portray a “blatant colonial mindset”.
The Union government had directed YouTube and Twitter to remove links sharing snippets from the documentary. However, attempts to screen the documentary were made across India in streets and campuses including the University of Hyderabad, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Pondicherry University, Ambedkar University, Jamia Millia Islamia University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences in Mumbai and the Presidency University in Kolkata.
