BBC Documentary | The second part of ‘Modi Question’ airs in UK.

People watch the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question”, on a screen installed at the Marine Drive junction under the direction of the district Congress committee, in Kochi on January 24, 2023. | Photo Credit: AFP

The controversial two-part documentary series ‘India: The Modi Question’, which examines the evolution of the Modi government’s relationship with Indian Muslims since 2014 and the evolution of communal relations in the country, aired in the United Kingdom on Tuesday evening. .

The government condemned and banned the first part of a documentary, which aired in the UK last week, describing a British government report that blamed the then Gujarat chief minister Modi for the 2002 Gujarat riots. The government criticized the project, saying it lacked objectivity, reflected a “persistent colonial mentality” and was “propaganda”.

Part two airs on BBC Two at 9pm. local time starts repeating the introductory scenes shown in the first part. It seeks to trace the evolution of the relationship between the Modi government and India’s Muslim minority. The series is sprinkled with graphic videos and images—starting with the 2017 massacre in Jharkhand.
With a running time of around 60 minutes, the second part discusses the BJP’s unprecedented victory in 2019 and what it means to have a government with a strong mandate. “Essentially there are gloves,” says one of the commentators, Chris Acton, a political scientist.

The UK petition has demanded an independent inquiry into the BBC series on PM Modi
The series then moves to August 5, 2019, and changes in the legal status of Jammu and Kashmir (ie, repeal of Article 370). It shows scenes following the protests in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, and the 2020 riots in Delhi. Security forces beat bloodied semi-conscious protesters who were forced to sing the national anthem even as they pleaded that they were “Bharatwasis” (Indians). The second part also includes interviews with protesters, families detained under the NRC and relatives of those who allegedly died at the hands of the police during the 2020 Delhi violence.

There is also footage of Mr Modi’s February 2020 rally in Ahmedabad with then US President Donald Trump.

India has changed under the rule of Narendra Modi. He’s very popular and very divisive,” says the narrator at the end of the show.