Kerala's Political Groups, JNU Union Announce Screening of BBC Documentary; HCU Students Screen Film on Campus

Various political groups in Kerala on Tuesday announced they would screen the controversial BBC documentary "India: The Modi Question" in the state, prompting the BJP to urge Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene and put a stop to such endeavours.

CPI(M)'s youth wing, DYFI, kicked off the political storm in the state over the documentary by announcing on its Facebook page that it would be shown in the state, the PTI report.

Following that, similar announcements were made by the SFI -- a left-wing student organisation allied with CPI(M) -- and various wings of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), including the Youth Congress. SFI, in its Facebook post, said the documentary would be screened on various college campuses in the state, PTI reported.

The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee's (KPCC) minority cell also said that the documentary would be screened in all district headquarters of the state on Republic Day.

BJP termed the move as "treasonous" and asked the Kerala CM to urgently intervene and nip such endeavours in the bud. BJP state president K Surendran filed a complaint with Vijayan demanding that permission not be given to screen the documentary in the state.

A section of students at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) also screened the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on its campus on Sunday, prompting the University authorities to seek a report. The documentary was screened by a group of students under the banner "Fraternity Movement- HCU unit", on campus.

However, no permission was sought by the students' group from the authorities before screening the documentary, and they got know about it only after the members of ABVP complained to the varsity's Registrar in this regard, official sources at UoH said on Tuesday. The University has asked for a report from its security wing over the matter, they said. A police official said they have so far not received any complaint over the matter.

Meanwhile, a poster was purportedly released by the Jawaharlal Nehru Students Union in Delhi announcing the screening of a controversial BBC documentary at its office on Tuesday.

It prompted university authorities to issue a warning to cancel the event or face "strict disciplinary action". The JNU administration, in an advisory on Monday, said the union has not taken its permission for the event and it should be cancelled as it could "disturb peace and harmony".

The Centre had last week directed the blocking of multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary.

The two-part BBC documentary, which claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister
Narendra Modi was the chief minister of that state, has been trashed by the Ministry of External Affairs as a "propaganda piece" that lacked objectivity and reflected a "colonial mindset".

The central government's move has received sharp criticism from opposition parties like the Congress and the TMC for imposing
"censorship".

(With PTI inputs)