Students Detained, Riot Police At Delhi’s Jamia Over BBC Film Screening

Two members of a left-wing students’ body at Delhi’s prestigious Jamia Millia Islamia university were detained by the police on Wednesday over their plan to screen the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the mass communication department this evening.

Police in blue riot gear and vans with tear-gas cannons reached the gates of the college in south-east Delhi. In an order issued on Tuesday, authorities at Jamia had said they will not allow any unauthorised gatherings on campus after the Students Federation of India announced the screening on Facebook.

The documentary, based on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tenure as Chief Minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots, has kicked up a storm with the government banning the film and asking social media companies to take down links to it. The opposition has slammed the move as blatant censorship.

A similar screening organised by a section students at Jawaharlal Nehru University last evening ran into trouble as both internet and electricity went out in the Students’ Union office. Students watched the documentary on their cellphones and laptops, and the evening ended with a protest march.