BBC made 'glaring factual errors' in documentary on PM Modi, say ex-judges, bureaucrats

The letter released by the ex-judges and bureaucrats said BBC has "completely sidelined the core fact" that Modi was given a clean chit by the Supreme Court.

The apex court has "unambiguously ruled out any role" of Modi in the violence of 2002, and "firmly rejected" allegations of complicity and inaction by the then Gujarat state government headed by him, the signatories noted.

According to BBC, its documentary is based on a "previously unpublished report", obtained by the media group from the British Foreign Office, which allegedly questioned Modi's role in containing the riots.

Rebutting the media group's claim, the letter released by the eminent citizens said: "There is nothing in the so-called British Foreign Office document - said to be based on a report from their High Commission in New Delhi, which was, in turn, said to be based on a report by their diplomat who visited Gujarat in 2002 - that had not been earlier alleged by any number of media reports and commentaries in India in the years following 2002".

The letter further called the BBC an "archetype of British past imperialism in India setting itself up as both judge and jury, to resurrect Hindu-Muslim tensions". The communal tensions were "overwhelmingly the creation of the British Raj policy of divide and rule", it added.

On CAA, which the documentary highlights as one of the contentious policies brought during the tenure of Modi as the prime minister, the letter said the law has "nothing" to target Indian Muslims.

"It is in fact, a law to help minorities (Hindus, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists and Jains) facing religious persecution in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh gain accelerated Indian citizenship. It has nothing to do with Indian Muslims; there is no word about Muslims in the text of the Act. Has the BBC read the text of the CAA at all before making this blatantly false accusation?"

The passage of the CAA had, however, led to massive demonstrations and protests as civil society groups linked the law to a potential National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise. Critics of the law alleged that non-Muslims who may get excluded from the citizenship list after the NRC gets conducted will able to get citizenship through the CAA.

The Indian government, in its official reaction to the BBC's documentary, said it was propaganda and lacked objectivity.

“If anything, this film or documentary is a reflection on the agency and individuals that are peddling this narrative again. It makes us wonder about the purpose of this exercise and the agenda behind it. Frankly, we don’t wish to dignify such efforts," foreign ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on January 19.