New Delhi, India: The British Broadcasting Cooperation, popularly known as BBC, the news agency has itself become a news, for reasons not so good. The agency, known for its global reach and coverage, has emerged as a propaganda media for the opposition and the west in the recent times. The recently released BBC documentary, which highlighted the activities of the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in the riots that broke out in Gujarat, India, in 2002, is a prime example of the extent these propagandist media of the west can stoop down to.
Its been more than twenty years since the Gujarat Riots, thus the least relevant matter for modern India and the Indians. At this point in time, when India has progressed as far as overtaking the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest economy in the world, digging old graves can be attributed to one single agenda of the opposition and the international communities, which is purely, defamation and maligning the image of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Here, it must also be noted that the case has already been investigated by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) that the Supreme Court of India had formulated in 2012. Additionally, in the previous year, Supreme Court has exonerated Indian PM Modi of having any such involvement in the riots, which the BBC Documentary didn’t care to mention at least.Â
In fact, the documentary has been founded upon inconclusive evidence, which can be easily traced from the repetitive use of expressions such as ‘allegedly’, ‘reportedly’, ‘it was widely reported’, ‘there were pretty credible reports and so on; which blemishes what is called the investigative journalism.
The BBC Documentary also mentioned about an unpublished report on Modi’s actions in the riots from the UK Foreign Office(FO), which stands as evidence of the United Kingdom’s complicity in the matter and their hidden agendas. Notably, the report was formulated to cater to the political motives of the then Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, who contested elections from the Blackburn constituency, which has 35% of the Muslim population, while the Hindu population merely 0.3%.
Although Jack had no right to interfere in India’s internal matters by conducting such interviews of the authorities, and witnesses, that too with a malicious intent of winning over a Muslim constituency, the manipulated reports, so prepared then, have been used by BBC in their latest release, which isn’t really something to be relied upon.
What’s been irksome for the International Communities?
It’s been almost a decade since Modi came to power as the Prime Minister of India and there’s been no turning back for the country since then. Recently, India has overtaken the UK to become the fifth largest economy in the world, while the major economies like the UK have been crippled by the economic recession for a considerable period of time now. As India paces ahead with its G20 Presidency, the global esteem the country has achieved hasn’t gone really well for the international communities.
The feats India has achieved under the leadership of Narendra Modi, like successfully bringing the digital revolution to the country, or tackling the pandemic with its ability to vaccinate a humongous population of billion plus, is what many countries are still trying to achieve. Â
The independent position of India on the Russia-Ukraine conflict while the United Kingdom war mongers, has added to the displeasure of the UK and many western nations. The independence India is developing has been another worrisome concern for these nations and the ideological billionaires who seek to inhibit India’s strategic autonomy and its ability to resist Western influence in its decisions.
The attempts to tarnish the dignity of the Indian Prime Minister is what the opposition and the international communities have resorted, to weaken the influence Modi has in India as well as the rest of the world. Aggravating the Hindu-Muslim differences in India is what these parties have been looking forward to, with the medium of the recent BBC documentary.
Also, it is being suggested that the attack on Modi intends to undermine the Indian-origin Hindu UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. However, India doesn’t expect something different from the Sunak-led UK administration. Meanwhile, Sunak’s response to a tirade against PM Modi from Pakistan origin British Member of Parliament quoting from the documentary wasn’t really appropriate.
Rishi Sunak, who called India a friend not so long ago, remained totally clueless about what could be a relevant and appropriate response to that speech in the House of Commons. Thereby resorting to state the least possible on the matter, either in favour or even against the same.
