India uses emergency powers to block BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi from being seen in the country
India says it has used emergency powers to block a BBC documentary about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi from being shared online.
The two-part programme – India: The Modi Question – questions Mr Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
The first episode was broadcast in the UK on Tuesday, and while it did not air in India, content was shared online, according to government adviser Kanchan Gupta.
Indian Hindus riot in Ahmedabad, the main city in the western Indian state of Gujarat, on 1 March 2002
He said the government had issued orders to both YouTube and Twitter to block content, using legislation under the country’s information and technology rules. He said both social media companies had complied.
Last week, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry termed the BBC documentary a “propaganda piece” meant to push a “discredited narrative”.
Rishi Sunak was asked about the documentary at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday.
Imran Hussain, Labour MP for Bradford East, asked the PM about claims in the film that the Foreign Office “knew the extent of Mr Modi’s involvement in the Gujarat massacre,” and asked whether Mr Sunak believed Mr Modi was “directly responsible” for the violence that ensued.
Mr Sunak answered: “The UK government’s position on that is clear and long standing, and it has not changed. Of course, we do not tolerate persecution anywhere, but I am not sure that I agree at all with the characterisation that the honourable gentleman has put forward.”
India is the largest democracy in the world. The country has two main religious groups, with Hindus making up around 80% of the population and Muslims around 14% of the population, according to a 2011 census.
Rishi Sunak and Narendra Modi in November 2022
Mr Modi has been India’s prime minister since 2014, and is currently serving his second term after his re-election in 2019.
However, his decade-long premiership has been dogged by persistent allegations about the attitude of his government towards India’s Muslim population.
He was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was gripped by riots that left more than 1,000 people dead, according to official numbers, most of them Muslims.
The violence erupted after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire, killing 59.
Human rights activists estimate at least double that number died in the rioting.
Mr Modi denied accusations that he failed to stop the rioting.
A special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the role of Mr Modi and others in the violence said in a 541-page report in 2012 that it could find no evidence to prosecute the-then chief minister.
He was later named the head of his party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he led to power.
Elections are set to take place in India next year.
The second part of the documentary is due to be broadcast on Tuesday 24 January.
World
Ukraine war: 14 killed as Russian missile and drone attacks strike Kyiv – including American citizen
Russian missile and drone attacks have killed 14 people in Kyiv overnight, according to Ukrainian officials.
A 62-year-old US citizen who suffered shrapnel wounds is among the dead.
At least 99 others were wounded in strikes that hollowed out a residential building and destroyed dozens of apartments.
Pic: AP
Emergency workers were at the scene to rescue people from under the rubble.
Images show a firefighter was among those hurt, with injured residents evacuated from their homes.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the attack as “one of the most terrifying attacks on Kyiv” – and said Russian forces had fired 440 drones and 32 missiles as civilians slept in their homes.
“[Putin] wants the war to go on,” he said. “It is troubling when the powerful of this world turn a blind eye to it.”
Pic: AP
Ukraine’s interior minister, Ihor Klymenko, said 27 locations across the capital have been hit – including educational institutions and critical infrastructure.
He claimed the attack, in the early hours of Tuesday morning, was one of the largest on the capital since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
Drones swarmed over the city, with an air raid alert remaining in force for seven hours.
One person was killed and 17 others injured as a result of separate Russian drone strikes in the port city of Odesa.
Pic: Reuters
It comes as the G7 summit in Canada continues, which Ukraine’s leader is expected to attend.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was due to hold talks with Donald Trump – but the president has announced he is unexpectedly returning to Washington because of tensions in the Middle East.
Ukraine’s foreign minister says Moscow’s decision to attack Kyiv during the summit is a signal of disrespect to the US.
Moscow has launched a record number of drones and missiles in recent weeks, and says the attacks are in retaliation for a Ukrainian operation that targeted warplanes in airbases deep within Russian territory.
Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko says fires broke out in two of the city’s districts as a result of debris from drones shot down by the nation’s air defences.
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Pic: AP
On X, Ukraine’s foreign ministry wrote: “Russia’s campaign of terror against civilians continues. Its war against Ukraine escalates with increased brutality.
“The only way to stop Russia is tighter pressure – through sanctions, more defence support for Ukraine, and limiting Russia’s ability to keep sowing war.”
Olena Lapyshnak, who lived in one of the destroyed buildings, said: “It’s horrible, it’s scary, in one moment there is no life. I can only curse the Russians, that’s all I can say. They shouldn’t exist in this world.”
World
Israeli tank shelling kills 51 people waiting for aid in Khan Younis, Hamas-run health ministry says
Israeli tank shellfire has killed at least 51 Palestinians in Khan Younis, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.
Hundreds of others have been injured, with “dozens of critical cases” arriving at a medical complex.
It is feared that the number of fatalities will rise.
Pic: Reuters
The strikes took place as people waited for United Nations and commercial aid trucks in the southern Gaza city.
Witnesses said that Israeli forces carried out an airstrike on a nearby home before opening fire toward the crowd.
“Emergency, intensive care, and operating rooms are experiencing severe overcrowding,” a statement said.
Officials say medical staff “are operating with limited supplies of life-saving medicines” – with the ministry renewing an “urgent appeal” to increase aid.
Pic: Reuters
Hours earlier, Donald Trump had joined other G7 leaders to call for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza”.
The Israeli military is yet to comment on this incident.
On Monday, Gaza’s health ministry said at least 34 people were shot dead near food distribution centres.
This was the highest reported daily total since Israel and US-backed aid centres opened last month, with thousands of Palestinians moving through Israeli military-controlled areas to reach them.
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