Bengaluru hosts the first screening of banned BBC documentary

‘India: The Modi Question,’ a banned BBC documentary, was screened for the first time in Bengaluru late Saturday night at the All-India Students Association (AISA) office on Infantry Road.

On January 25, AISA issued an invitation on various social media platforms, inviting people to attend a screening and discussion of a film about the rise of communalism in Indian society. The title of the documentary was not mentioned in the invitation. Only after the screening did AISA post images of it on their social media sites on Sunday.

Aratrika Dey, an AISA convening member, told, “Around 40 students gathered at the AISA office to watch the BBC documentary and later participated in a discussion on the rise of communalism. The students were from Christ College, IISc, Azim Premji University, St Joseph’s, and a few other colleges. Members from the All-India Central Council of Trade Union too watched the documentary.”

Srilakshmi Kunnandin, another AISA member who was at the screening, said they had expected only 10-15 students for the screening as students are scared of detention by the police, like in other states, for watching the documentary.

Srilakshmi said, “The screening went on smoothly and there was no ruckus. Later, we discussed issues of communalism, especially the post-Godhra riots in 2002. The organization believes that the ban on the documentary is a violation of the freedom of the press. The ban seems like an attempt to hide the truth,” 
She said the links to the documentary are being circulated in the name of the recently released Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan, expecting people to download and watch it. 

Until late Sunday evening, no complaints had been filed against the screening. According to a higher education official, no action can be taken against them because the film was not shown in any college or educational institution.