Indian authorities raid BBC workplaces after broadcast of Modi documentary | CNN Business
New Delhi
CNN
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Indian tax authorities raided the BBC’s workplaces in New Delhi and Mumbai on Tuesday, weeks after the nation banned a documentary from the British broadcaster that was crucial of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged function in lethal riots greater than 20 years in the past.
BBC News reported on tv that folks had not been allowed to enter or go away the workplaces.
The raids come after the Indian authorities stated it used “emergency powers” to dam the documentary from airing within the nation, including that each YouTube and Twitter complied with the order.
The transfer polarized response on the planet’s largest democracy. Critics decried it as an assault on press freedom, whereas Modi’s supporters rallied to his protection.
A BBC spokesperson advised CNN that the group was “fully cooperating” with authorities. “We hope to have this situation resolved as soon as possible,” the spokesperson stated.
The two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question” criticized the then-chief minister of the western state of Gujarat in 2002 when riots broke out between the state’s majority Hindus and minority Muslims. It was broadcast within the UK in January.
More than 1,000 folks, principally Muslims, had been killed within the violence and no less than 220 extra went lacking, in response to authorities figures. Almost 1,000 girls had been widowed, whereas greater than 600 kids had been left orphaned, official figures confirmed.
Modi and his ruling ruling Bharatiya Janata Party rose to energy in India in 2014, driving on a wave of Hindu nationalism within the nation of 1.3 billion, the place practically 80% of the inhabitants comply with the religion.
The BBC stated Jack Straw, who was British overseas secretary in 2002 and options within the documentary, claims that Modi had “played a proactive part in pulling back the police and in tacitly encouraging the Hindu extremists.”
Modi has denied accusations that he didn’t cease the violence. A particular investigation staff appointed by India’s Supreme Court in 2012 discovered no proof to recommend he was in charge.
But the riots stay one of many darkest chapters in India’s post-independence historical past, with some victims nonetheless awaiting justice.
Last month, some college college students in Delhi trying to observe the banned movie on campus had been detained by police, elevating considerations that freedoms had been deliver throttled below Modi’s authorities.
Speaking at a information convention Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia stated corporations, together with media companies, should “follow and respect Indian law.”
“Anyone, any agency, whether tied to the media, a company, if they are working in India, they must follow and respect Indian law. If they follow the law, then why should they be scared or worried? Let the Income Department do its job,” he stated.
India was a rustic that “gives an opportunity to every organization” so long as they’re “willing to abide” by the nation’s structure, Bhatia added.
The raids have raised fears of censorship in India.
In a assertion Tuesday, the Editor’s Guild of India stated it was “deeply concerned” by the event.
The raids had been a “continuation of a trend of using government agencies to intimidate and harass press organisations that are critical of government policies or the ruling establishment,” it stated. “This is a trend that undermines constitutional democracy.”
The assertion gave examples of comparable searches carried out on the workplaces of assorted English-language native media retailers, together with NewsClick on and Newslaundry, in addition to Hindi-language media organizations together with Dainik Bhaskar and Bharat Samachar.
“The Guild demands that great care and sensitivity be shown in all such investigations so as to not undermine the rights of journalists and media organisations,” it stated.
