The BBC released the first episode of a controversial documentary on Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, on January 17. This release has created waves of controversy, censorship, and citizen support in the world's largest democracy.

The documentary, titled "India: The Modi Question," was initially aired in the UK but soon after, video clips started spreading on social media platforms in India, which led the Indian government to ban the documentary. However, student organizations in India have been organizing screenings of the BBC documentary on numerous campuses across the nation to protest the censorship imposed by the government.

In India, a nation of 1.3 billion people, where approximately 80% of the population practices Hinduism, Modi and the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014. They did so by riding on a wave of Hindu nationalism.

The first part of the two-part series recounts Narendra Modi's rise to become India's Prime Minister, his affiliation with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and his contentious participation in the 2002 riots in Gujarat, where he was then serving as the chief minister. In 2002, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire, resulting in scores of deaths, and violent religious protests erupted. More than 1,000 people died in the subsequent bloodshed — most of the victims were Muslims.

The documentary also draws attention to an unpublished report that the BBC obtained from the British Foreign Office, shedding light on Narendra Modi's actions during the religious riots.

A matter of press freedom

Since the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party came to power in 2014, there has been a steady attack on press freedom in India. The BJP and its sister organizations, such as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, have worked over the past eight years to stifle independent media. In the press freedom index last year, India fell to 150 out of 180 countries on the World Press Freedom Index — its lowest ranking ever. This puts India's press in a crisis, made worse by ongoing violence against journalists and human rights activists.

The government of India now has extensive and unregulated authority to censor and regulate internet news sources and content according to the country’s Information Technology Rules, 2021. On January 20, the Indian government used emergency powers available under the latest IT Rules to issue directions to YouTube and Twitter to block clips of the documentary from being shared.

Opposition parties along with activists are calling the move to block the documentary an agenda by the central government to silence its critics. Shadab Farooq, a journalist and researcher, said, "There is no freedom of press left in India; the use of such emergency laws to censor the film means that more of these laws will be enforced in the future."

Students defying ban to watch the documentary

These attempts to screen the documentary have resulted in altercations with police forces. Dozens of students are being detained while participating in protests against the decision to ban the documentary.

Students at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University claimed that when they attempted to screen the documentary on campus, the power was turned off, after which they used their laptops and mobile devices to watch it. The students further alleged that stones were hurled by the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, which is the student wing of the Hindu nationalist paramilitary group Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh while they tried viewing the documentary.

The students of Jamia Millia Islamia, one of India’s most prestigious universities, experienced a similar incident. Dozens of police personnel wearing riot gear were deployed at the university. Kainat was present inside the campus with her classmates to watch the documentary. However, the university administration drove them out of the campus and shut all gates of the university.

A heavy deployment of police forces present around the campus barred them from watching the documentary. “The more they will ban the documentary, the more we will screen it,” said 23-year-old Kainat, a psychology student at the university.

When students started gathering in large numbers to protest, the police were quick to detain them. A student who was detained told ReligionUnplugged.com that the screening of the documentary was supposed to be at 6 p.m., but the police were present around the campus from 10 a.m. that day.

“My friend and I were talking to the media about the cancellation of our classes, how we were pushed out of the campus, and the university doors being shut,” recalled the student, who has requested anonymity. “When a policeman - in plain clothes - snatched my hand and put me inside the van.”

Indian authorities denouncing the documentary

Government authorities are calling it a propaganda piece. While public screening of the documentary has met with resistance from BJP supporters and police, the public has been privately sharing links on social media and uploading it onto Google Drive. Kanchan Gupta, an adviser in the government's Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, called it “anti-India garbage.”

Allegations of his involvement in the carnage that occurred during the Gujarat riots have haunted Narendra Modi for decades. The prime minister has been accused of not doing enough to defend the minority community from Hindu mobs and even of deliberately aiding the extremists. He has refuted claims that he failed to put an end to the violence, and in 2013, India’s Supreme Court said that there wasn’t enough evidence to bring charges against him.

Since 2014, the right-wing BJP government has been cracking down on journalists and activists critical of the prime minister, frequently using draconian laws to imprison critics. Farooq added, “The ban on this film and the incarceration of journalists is Modi’s revenge after how the media exposed him in the 2002 genocide.”

Naila Khan is an independent journalist based in New Delhi who has reported for several news outlets, including France 24, Himal Southasian, and The Diplomat.