A fresh row erupted at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) as a poster was purportedly released by its students' union announcing the screening of a controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at its office on Tuesday, January 24, prompting university authorities to issue a warning to cancel the event or face "strict disciplinary action".
The government had on Friday, January 20 directed social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary titled India: The Modi Question, as stated in the report by PTI. The Ministry of External Affairs has trashed the documentary as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset. However, opposition parties have slammed the government's move to block access to the documentary.
JNU admin's advisory
The JNU administration, in an advisory on Monday, January 23, said the union had not taken its permission for the event and it should be cancelled as it could "disturb peace and harmony". Calls and messages to JNU Students' Union (JNUSU) President Aishe Ghosh did not elicit a response, as per the PTI report.
The poster, purportedly released by the union, said the documentary India: The Modi Question will be screened at 9 pm in the student body's office. The university, however, in its advisory said, "It has come to the notice of the administration that a group of students have in the name of the JNUSU released a pamphlet for screening a documentary or movie (titled) "India: The Modi Question" scheduled for 24 January, 2023, at 9:00 pm in Teflas."
No prior permission for this event has been taken from the JNU administration, it said. "This is to emphasise that such an unauthorised activity may disturb the peace and harmony of the university campus. The concerned students or individuals are firmly advised to cancel the proposed programme immediately, failing which a strict disciplinary action may be initiated as per university rules," the advisory read.
The two-part BBC documentary India: The Modi Question claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was the Chief Minister of the state. The documentary has not been screened in India.
