bbc row: The Indian diaspora, consisting of several organizations living in the United Kingdom, protested outside the BBC headquarters in central London against what they called ‘fake news’ behind the controversial series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Protests called ‘Let’s BBC’ took place outside the BBC headquarters across the UK in several key locations such as London, Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Organizations include Indian Diaspora UK (IDUK), Friends of Indian Society International (FISI) UK, Insight UK and Hindu Forum of Britain (HFB). The protesters waved placards reading “Boycott BBC”, “British Bias Corporation” and “Stop the Hinduphobic Narrative”, and raised slogans such as “Shame on BBC” and “Bharat Mata ki Jai”.
Among the protesters in London, FISI UK’s Jayu Shah said, “The documentary on Prime Minister Modi was very biased because he was fully cleared by the Indian judiciary, and yet the BBC decided to be judge and jury.”
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“The BBC should be investigated internationally and the BBC’s board of directors should be investigated for failing in their duty as a public broadcaster,” he said. Against the “false and anti-India propaganda” he felt was being spread by the British broadcaster.
A two-part BBC documentary, which claimed it examined some aspects related to the 2002 Gujarat riots when PM Modi was the chief minister of that state, has been dismissed as a “propaganda piece” by the Ministry of External Affairs which lacked objectivity and reflected A “colonial mindset”.
The BBC has defended the program as “rigorously researched to the highest editorial standards”. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has defended Prime Minister Modi on a BBC documentary, stating that he did not agree with the characterization of his Indian counterpart.
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