Rights organizations watch a BBC Modi documentary in Washington before Indian PM’s visit. Before his state visit to the White House, two human rights groups invited policymakers, journalists, and analysts to a Washington screening of a BBC documentary about Narendra Modi’s leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International will organize the private screening on June 20, two days before President Joe Biden hosts Modi’s state visit. Human Rights Watch announced the screening on Monday to inform viewers that India had banned the documentary.
“India: the Modi question,” a two-part documentary, examined Modi’s leadership as Gujarat’s chief minister during the 2002 riots that killed at least 1,000 Muslims. Activists estimate the toll at double that.
Modi denied failing to stop the violence, and a Supreme Court-ordered probe found no evidence to charge him.
The January documentary was denounced as a “propaganda piece” by the Indian government, which banned social media distribution of its clips.
When challenged about Indian human rights, the White House backed Modi’s state visit last month. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden believes “this is an important relationship that we need to continue and build on as it relates to human rights.”
Under Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, minority, dissident, and journalist rights have deteriorated, according to advocacy groups. The administration denies the charges and says it promotes all groups.
The BBC was investigated for foreign currency crimes by the financial crime bureau in April after tax investigators inspected its Delhi and Mumbai headquarters in February. A government adviser stated the inspection was not “vindictive.”
The BBC said it stands behind its reporting for the program, which was not aired in India, and “does not have an agenda.”
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