BBC offices in India raided after documentary controversy

BBC offices in India have been raided by the IRS. This was preceded by the broadcast of a BBC documentary highlighting Prime Minister Modi’s role in a riot a good 20 years ago.

British broadcaster BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai have been raided following the broadcast of a documentary film critical of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BBC also confirmed this and announced that it wanted to cooperate with the income tax authority.

Laptops and cell phones were also confiscated. The authority itself could not initially be reached for comment.

Government blocked links to film

Last month, the BBC aired a two-part documentary entitled The Modi Question. The documentary suggests that in 2002, as Gujarat state premier, Modi ordered police to turn a blind eye to deadly clashes between Hindus and Muslims. At least 1,000 people died in the riots, most of them Muslims.

After the documentary was released, the Indian government blocked videos and tweets with links to the film. Shortly after its publication, government adviser Kanchan Gupta labeled it “enemy propaganda” and “garbage”. Despite the ban, student groups organized secret performances, prompting the police to arrest two dozen students.

Attack on freedom of the press

Critics see the measures as an attack on press freedom. The general secretary of the opposition Congress Party, KC Venugopal, described the search as undemocratic. The action shows that the government is afraid of criticism, he tweeted. “We condemn this intimidation tactic in the strongest possible terms.”

Press freedom in India has come under increasing pressure since Modi came to power in 2014. In the 2022 Reporters Without Borders world press freedom rankings, India slipped ten places to 150th out of 180.