About 13 students of the Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University were detained by the police over organising a screening of the controversial BBC documentary on PM Modi inside the university campus on Wednesday, January 25. The Delhi Police arrested the students who were sloganeering outside JMI, even before the screening could take place.
An ANI report quotes Vice Chancellor, Najma Akhtar, saying, "Nothing happened inside our university, an attempt was made but it was completely foiled. Whatever happened, happened on the streets. It was a small incident blown out of proportion. Our precautionary measures were good.
The organising of the screening on Wednesday was followed by a huge ruckus and a statement released by the university authorities states that after students from the Students Federation of India (SFI) circulated a poster regarding the screening of the documentary the administration warned of strict action.
As per the ANI report, the administration said, “It has come to the knowledge of the university administration that some students belonging to a political organisation (SFI) have circulated a poster about the screening of a controversial documentary film on the university campus today. The university administration has earlier issued a memorandum/circular and once again reiterates that no meeting/gathering of students or screening of any film shall be allowed on the campus without the permission of the competent authority, failing which strict disciplinary action shall be taken against the organisers.”The administration also emphasised that it is taking measures to prevent anybody from destroying the peaceful atmosphere of the university. The move to detain students at JMI came on the order of the Chief Proctor, as per ANI reports.
The documentary screening at JMI was organised by the left-wing youth organisation SFI at 6 pm. The BBC documentary, ‘India: The Modi Question’ has created quite a lot of chaos on central university campuses after India evoked emergency laws to ban the film. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has called it a propaganda piece that reflects a colonial mindset. However, students at various universities are screening it as a mark of ‘freedom of speech'.
