New Delhi: The Delhi Police on Wednesday detained several students of the Jamia Millia Islamia university after the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) planned to screen the BBC documentary on Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots on campus.
According to the Indian Express, around four students were detained around noon, while seven or eight more students were picked up by the cops around 3 pm. The news agency PTI claimed that more than 70 students were detained. It is not clear if all the detained students are affiliated to the SFI.
Several Jamia Millia Islamia students were detained by Delhi police while protesting against denial of permission to screen BBC documentary critical of PM Modi in Jamia campus and arbritrary detention of 4 SFI members ahead of documentary screening.
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The university administration said permission to screen the documentary was not sought and accused the SFI of having a “vested interest to destroy the peaceful academic atmosphere of the university”.
The Modi government has moved to censor the documentary – which was not broadcast on Indian television – across social media platforms, asking YouTube and Twitter to takedown posts which linked to the film. The Ministry of External Affairs has termed it a “propaganda piece with bias“.
The first episode of the BBC documentary detailed the findings of a UK government enquiry into the riots, which said Modi – then the chief minister of Gujarat – was “directly responsible” for the killings. The second episode, which aired on January 24 in the UK, dealt with aspects of Modi’s “troubled relationship” with India’s Muslims after his re-election in 2019.
The crackdown on Jamia students comes a day after students of Jawaharlal Nehru University accused the administration of cutting power and internet to sections of the campus to foil attempts to screen the documentary. While the students watched it on laptops in the students’ union office, they accused members of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) of pelting stones at them.
The Jamia, the SFI – the CPI(M)’s student wing – had released a poster which said the documentary would be screened at MCRC lawn gate 8 at 6 pm. The administration said permission was not taken to screen the BBC documentary. “It has come to the knowledge of the university administration that some students belonging to a political organisation have circulated a poster about screening of a controversial documentary film on the university campus today,” it said in a statement, warning of “strict disciplinary action” in case it is screened.
“The university is taking all possible measures to prevent people/organisations having a vested interest to destroy the peaceful academic atmosphere of the university,” it said.
According to reports, there was heavy police deployment outside the campus, including cops in riot gear stationed at almost all gates.
RAF deployed outside jamia, internet cut off, students detained- all to stop the screening of the BBC documentary on Modi. Next we know tanks could be out in the national capital to stop one documentary from screening. pic.twitter.com/F7YhzEWyCL
— Safoora Zargar (@SafooraZargar) January 25, 2023
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The deputy commissioner of police (Southeast) Esha Pandey told Indian Express that 13 students were detained around 4 pm to “ensure peace in the area” after the Jamia administration said informed the police that “some students were creating ruckus on the streets”.
The newspaper reported that many students who had no plans to watch the film complained that they were not allowed to enter the campus after noon.
Screening stopped at Panjab University
According to Hindustan Times, a screening of the same documentary was stopped at the Student Centre of Panjab University on Wednesday after a portion of it was played by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI).
Here too, the administration said permission was not sought to screen the university.
Sachin Galav, a university student who is the president of NSUI Chandigarh, said, “We started the screening around 5 pm and were stopped by the authorities at 5.30 pm. We were told by the security officials that we do not have permission for screening it. Our aim was to make students aware of the Gujarat riots in 2002.”
Vikram Singh, chief university security, told HT, “They tried to screen the documentary without permission. I was informed by a security guard and we reached the spot. Permission from dean student welfare (DSW) is required for any kind of display at the Student Centre (Stu-C). We asked them but they had not received any permission for the screening.”
