Narendra Modi’s authoritarian turnaround continues in India. Now even watching a documentary about him is prohibited and can lead to arrest. This is what happened to several groups of students who gathered in recent days to attend unauthorized screenings of “India: The Modi Question”, the BBC documentary censored by the New Delhi authorities. The work produced by the British broadcaster has been branded as “propaganda” and has been blocked from streaming and sharing on social media.
On Wednesday evening, the capital’s police intervened to stop a group of students who had gathered to watch the film anyway. The same thing has happened in different areas of the capital and in different cities of the country over the past few days. And in some cases there have also been episodes of violence.
At Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, a group of Hindu nationalist students threw bricks at those who had gathered to watch the documentary on their mobile phones, as the university cut off the power to avoid using the projector. Protests have also erupted in Kerala.
However, the Federation of Students of India does not seem willing to give up and has declared that it intends to screen the documentary in all Indian states. But universities have sided with the government, blaming students for creating unrest and “disturbing discipline”.
The government has also ordered all major international digital platforms to block the sharing of the documentary. And the giants have obeyed, starting with YouTube and Twitter, despite the fact that Elon Musk has always defined himself as a defender of freedom of speech. Twitter even blocked two posts by US actor John Cusack from the Indian public that contained links to the play. The BBC said that “the documentary has been rigorously studied to the highest editorial standards” and that it also contains the views of some members of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, but the government has labeled it “rubbish”.
“India: The Modi Question” details the premier’s role in the massacre of Gujarat, a state in western India where in February 2002 a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire. The culprits were identified in a mob of the Muslim minority, which later became the target of a violent and bloody retaliation that caused a thousand official deaths but about 2,500 according to estimates by activists and non-governmental organizations.
Modi, then the head of Gujarat, was cleared in 2012 of charges he hadn’t done enough to stop the unrest. But, beyond the doubts on the matter, it is undeniable that Modi has exploited the tones of Hindu nationalism to favor his political ascent towards the role of prime minister. And he then rekindled them to strengthen his grip which has sometimes assumed authoritarian characteristics, with laws considered by many as harmful to the Muslim minority. In 2022, India plummeted to 150th out of 180 for press freedom – its worst ranking ever.
A clear squeeze on rights that took place with a mostly distracted West, first captivated by Modi for his promises of great openness to business and then addicted to the strategic importance assigned to India (primarily by the United States) for the containment of China in Asia. The situation is unlikely to improve as we approach the 2024 general elections, in which Modi will seek to receive a third term.