Modi Documentary: BBC Issued With Summons by Indian Court

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Facts

  • As part of an ongoing defamation case over a documentary created by the BBC about Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the broadcaster has received a summons from Delhi's high court.1
  • The suit alleges that the documentary, which critiqued Modi's leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, maliciously defamed India. A BBC spokesperson acknowledged that the broadcaster was "aware of the court proceedings," and they added that commenting on developments "would be inappropriate…at this stage."2
  • Aside from criticism in India suggesting the program — titled 'India: the Modi Question' — undermined the reputation of the country, its judiciary, and the Prime Minister, BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai also faced an inspection by Indian tax officials in February.3
  • Despite the documentary being banned in India, there are reports that it's being watched widely among the population. The BBC has previously defended its coverage — which focuses on Modi's management of riots in the Indian state of Gujarat, which occurred when he was Chief Minister of the region — asserting that it "does not have an agenda" in the country.4
  • According to Siddharth Sharma, an advocate for the non-profit group Justice on Trial who filed the defamation suit, the summons issued to the BBC comes as the next hearing is set for September 23.5
  • Modi has consistently denied that his response to the riots in Gujarat was inadequate, in which at least 1K people died — most of whom were Muslims.2

Sources: 1Guardian, 2Reuters, 3South China Morning Post, 4Deadline, and Al Jazeera.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by The Spectator. Modi's relentless suppression of dissent is now impacting press freedom, as the world's largest democracy attempts to censor the investigation of independent journalists. It's evident that the Prime Minister is leading the BJP in failing to condone attacks on Muslims throughout the predominantly Hindu nation of India. The global publicity Modi has generated with this vindictive response may well pose more problems for his reputation than it solves.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by The Indian Express. Modi is an outstandingly poor media manager, and his response to this BBC fiasco proves it. The age of modern media makes it impossible to ban anything so, by attempting to suppress it, the Prime Minister is catapulting the profile of this documentary. Rather than banning it, the Indian government should be transparent about what this documentary is — a total fabrication masquerading as journalism.

Predictions