'They are after Modi since 2002': Shah on BBC docu row, Hindenburg report

‘The truth emerges despite a thousand conspiracies around it. They are after Modi since 2002’, said Union home minister Amit Shah on controversies surrounding the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Hindenburg report on Gautam Adani.

‘But every time, Modi Ji comes out stronger & more popular”, he said in an interview to news agency ANI.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released ‘India: The Modi Question’, a documentary that chronicles the events during the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of the state.

The first part of the two-part documentary was released on 17 January 2023, and the second part on 24 January.

BBC had cited a previously unpublished report from the British Foreign Office that concluded that Modi was “directly responsible for a climate of impunity” that led to anti-Muslim violence, and that Modi had ordered senior police officers not to intervene.

The documentary had sparked controversy in India and abroad with the government terming it as a ‘propaganda piece’ and ordering social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to delete tweets and videos sharing the film.

The first episode of the documentary was blocked on YouTube and Twitter using the emergency blocking provision of the controversial Information Technology Rules 2021.

However, students in several universities across the country had screened the documentary despite the ban.

The opposition had slammed the Centre's move, calling it censorship. ‘Truth shines bright. It has a nasty habit of coming out. So no amount of banning, oppression and frightening people is going to stop the truth from coming out’, Rahul Gandhi had said.

Meanwhile, the controversy surrounding Hindenburg report on Adani Group rages on with Rahul Gandhi alleging in the Lok Sabha that Gautam Adani's rise in business was due to the Modi government.

Not only parts of Gandhi's speeches were expunged, but he has also been asked to file a reply to breach of privilege notice against him by the BJP.

However, Shah said that there was ‘nothing for the BJP to hide or be afraid of’ when asked about the controversy.