Sunday, November 17

The world's most popular president faces a censorship crisis against a documentary in India

Indian President Narendra Modi
Indian President Narendra Modi

Photo: Mark Nolan/AFP/Getty Images

The opinion

For: The opinion

The Indian President Narendra Modiconsidered the most popular in the world by an international survey faces a major crisis in your country after the publication and censorship of a documentary about him.

The most popular president in the worldaccording to the most recent Morning Consult survey of the approval ratings of global leaders, is In the eye of the hurricane after his government censor a BBC documentary in which the ruler is questioned.

The BBC documentary titled ‘India: The Modi Question’ highlights an unpublished report that raises questions about the Modi’s performance during religious riots that broke out in Gujarat after the fire of a train with Hindu pilgrims the day before, in which dozens of people died. More than 1,000 people, mostly Muslims, were killed in the outbreak of violence, one of the worst since independence.

According to the BBC, the report states that Modi was “directly responsible” for the “climate of impunity” that fueled the violence. During the violent riots of 2002, Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat, where the clashes took place.

Modi has long denied the allegations. responsibility for the violence and has not apologized for the riots. In 2013, a Supreme Court panel also said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

Consequences of censorship

But the censorship against the documentary is not the worst situation Modi faces, but the reactions to this decision taken by his administration.

This action was considered a violation of freedom of expression by different organizations, including The All India Students’ Federation (SFI), which has held marches to protest against the censorship of the documentary.

The SFI published a statement on its social networks that “SFI members have been arrested for preventing the screening of ‘India: The Modi Question’. We call on the student community of Jamia Millia Islamia University to rise up in protest against this repressive measure,” he said.

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