Exposing BBC’s new series “India: The Modi Question”

India: The Modi Question series: The never-ending saga of oozing elitism, racism, and the mental superiority of colonial mindsets—vividly captured in the ideology dubbed “White Man’s Burden”—is glaringly visible in the reportage of the BBC, the state-sponsored broadcaster of the United Kingdom. But with the recent meddling in India’s internal affairs, the BBC has audaciously stooped to a new low. The BBC has released a so-called “investigative” series (India: The Modi Question) on the elected head of the largest democracy in the world, Indian PM Narendra Modi.

BBC to pass judgement on PM Modi’s innocence in the SC-settled 2002 Gujarat riot case

In its full glory, Britain used to gloat that ‘the sun never sets on the British Empire’. But in the absence of resource-rich colonies to exploit, Britain is undergoing a sharp economic downturn. In fact, there is a high possibility that the UK’s economy may undergo a period of recession if the nation doesn’t undertake timely measures to correct its failing ways.

But in these troubling times, the British media seems eager to indulge in sadistic pleasure by rubbing salt on the wounds of its former colony in order to deflect attention away from its suffering. For this, it is again resorting to its notorious strategy of stroking divisions among communities in India. On January 17, it released a series titled “India: The Modi Question.”

As per the India: The Modi Question series’ official description, “it looks at the tensions between Indian PM Narendra Modi and India’s Muslim minority, investigating claims about his role in the 2002 riots that left over a thousand dead.”

The BBC stated that it will examine how Narendra Modi’s premiership has been dogged by persistent allegations about how India’s Muslim population has been treated. Furthermore, it is adamant about continuing its narrative on Modi’s policies, issues, and schemes after his re-election in 2019. As per their description, these include a series of controversial policies like Article 370, the CAA for allegedly treating Muslims unfairly, and reports of violent attacks on Muslims by Hindus.

The series: India: The Modi Question

Now, it seems that after proving his innocence in the court of the general public and the court of law, PM Narendra Modi will line up and face the investigation by the learned echo-chamber of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), a news channel of a foreign nation. It is ridiculous, to say the least.

Britain committed countless unspeakable atrocities and didn’t hold anyone accountable for its colonial crimes or repent for them. But unlike them, India has never rejected any claim without going into the merits of the case. So, let’s delve in to analyse the content of the video.

In its first hour-long video, the BBC raked over all those issues that have been thoroughly looked after by the Indian judiciary, including the apex court, the Supreme Court.

From the shoulders of vested interest groups in the horrific 2002 Godhra riot case, BBC dragged the same old rhetorical charge against PM Narendra Modi. For this, it included the notorious faces those who desperately wanted to implicate the then Gujarat CM Narendra Modi.

These include notorious individuals like Akar Patel, former head of Amnesty International, Arundhati Roy, or the kin of people implicated by SC in this very case: Sanjeev Bhatt and RB Sreekumar.

People like them are being investigated for trying to willfully implicate BJP leader Narendra Modi for furthering political motives and spreading the falsehood that it was not a communal riot but rather a Muslim pogrom.

Aside from these alleged local collaborators of the International anti-India brigade, the BBC has relied on the “insight” of its journalist, an anonymous diplomat, and a former Foreign Secretary, all of whose claims were based on hearsay and well-crafted conspiracy theories that had already been shattered by the Supreme Court of India. Be it the conspiracy around the murder of Haren Pandya, claims by Babubajrangi and others, or the purported meeting headed by then-CM Modi.

Why the desperation to keep ‘the Gujarat 2002 riot’ bogey alive?

First of all, the BBC’s claim of investigating the unfortunate Godhra case reeks of their colonial superiority complex, and they have “no locus standi” in this case as it is India’s internal affair and has been properly handled by our independent judiciary.

BBC’s take badly suffers from a confirmation bias. It desperately ran away from the fact that it was an unfortunate case of communal rioting and not a Muslim pogrom. Unlike their claims, the heartbreaking ordeals were witnessed by members of both communities. But in their eagerness to further their political motives, they virtually ignored the initiation incident involving Hindu pilgrims burned alive in train coaches. Bringing peace, law, and order into such an atmosphere of communal frenzy in a large area is easier said than done.

Using that argument to pin blame on a criminal conspiracy for scripting the Muslim pogrom speaks volumes about the journalistic and unbiased credentials of the BBC and the groups involved that keep rubbing salt in the wounds of both communities.

There are many reasons why the Islamo-leftist coterie, in cahoots with foreign players, keeps the bogey of the unfortunate case of the Gujarat riots alive.

First, the stated reason given by the BBC is that they want to establish that India is marching towards becoming a Hindu rashtra. Evidently, the first video opens with the disparaging remarks of fringe elements echoing the demand for making India a Hindu Rashtra. It needs BBC-level insanity and “confirmation bias” to link these random remarks of fringe elements to the psyche of Indian citizens and the Indian government.

In a separate portion, we will dispel this canard that Muslims are being oppressed under the Modi government and that laws are being implemented to achieve these objectives. Through these well-crafted narratives of Muslim pogrom in India, they want to hamper India’s growing economic, diplomatic, and soft-power in the world.

In addition, the reserve countdown for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024 has begun. Notably, BBC is rarely watched in India, and India: The Modi Question series is being broadcast on BBC TWO, which has even less or no presence in India. This is why their target audience is very clear. Through these falsehoods, foreign players like BBC wants to influence English-speaking elites urban class voters in India and set a global agenda of India-led by PM Modi becoming an anti-Muslim nation.

Outside India, they want to set a global agenda that under PM Modi India is becoming an Islamophobia nation. With acts like these, the BBC and its ilk want to act as the main opposition to PM Modi and dislodge him to halt the ongoing progress of the nation in every sphere.

Further, through such degrading propaganda, several vested interest groups want to hurt the strategic ties between the two democratic nations, India and the UK. They want to jeopardise the UK’s economic revival by creating hurdles in a possible free trade agreement between the two nations.

Apparently, these rationales were also highlighted by several organisations run by people of Indian origin. The founding member of the Indic Society, British Indian Adit Kothari, organised a protest to voice their concern against this anti-India bias.

The elephant in the room: the Modi government and its handling of Muslim minorities

As far as the charge of the Modi government’s mishandling of the Muslim minority is concerned, the data speaks for itself. The budget allocation for minorities, of which the Muslim community gets the lion’s share, has seen a significant increase under the Modi government.

In the 2013-14 budget, the UPA government allocated Rs 3,511 crore for minorities. In 2022-2023, the Minority Ministry received Rs 5,021 crore.The increase in budgetary allocations emphasises PM Modi’s commitment to the welfare of minorities.

Also read: Facts shattered the Opposition’s narrative around PM Modi’s anti-minority image

The Modi government gave more government scholarships to the Muslim community than the UPA government did. Under the UPA’s second term, Muslim students received 2.33 crore in scholarships. Contrary to the media’s image, the Modi government allotted 2.37 crore in scholarships in its first term.

As per official data from the Minority Ministry, up until March 2022, out of the 2.31 crore houses built under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, 31% were allocated in 25 minority-dominated areas. 33% of the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi were minorities. Out of the nine crore beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana, 37% were from minority communities. 36% of the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana were from minority communities.

It is high time that India gives a strong message to all these foreign players trying to pass on judgements on Indian issues. For political gains, the leftist lobby, in cahoots with the anti-India brigade keeps opening the wounds which take a lot of time to heal. That’s why it is eminently necessary to hold these conspirators accountable for their statements, claims and acts.