New Delhi: The police on Saturday stopped the screening of the controversial BBC Documentary on Gujarat riots on the campus of Himachal Pradesh University. The documentary was being screened by the Students Federation of India (SFI), reported PTI.
A minor scuffle also broke out when the SFI activists raised slogans and tried to stop the police from removing the screen installed on the University campus. The screening was stopped after 15-20 minutes, eyewitnesses said, reported PTI.
This comes after the student body tried to screen the documentary at several other universities including the University of Delhi, Jamila Millia Islamia, and Hyderabad University among others.
The Registrar of Himachal University said that a notice has been issued to SFI to stop screening of the documentary “India, the Modi Question” immediately as it could create a law and order situation on the campus.
"Besides this, the documentary has been banned in India and invites contempt as per the orders passed by the Himachal High Court... in view of this the screening of the film be stopped immediately and the same shall not be screened in the campus in future also," the registrar said, the PTI report said.
Reacting to the incident, the BJP state co-incharge of media Karan Nanda has written to the police to ensure that the screening of the documentary is not allowed.
The leaders of the SFI lashed out at the government, accusing it of being intolerant.
Shimla SP Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told the PTI that so far, no formal complaint has been filed by the university and police are examining all aspects.
The BBC released a two-part series 'India: The Modi Question' highlighting the 2002 Gujarat riots, the scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution of India which gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, the beef ban in some of the states and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
After the release of the documentary, Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry told the two social media giants, Twitter and YouTube, to block the accounts sharing the episodes of the BBC documentary. As a result, tweets and youtube videos of the documentaries were removed from the websites.
SFI Screens BBC Documentary In Hyderabad, Puducherry Varsities
Multiple clashes broke out between the supporters of RSS-affiliated ABVP and the Students Federation of India (SFI) in Hyderabad and Puducherry universities on Friday over the screening of the BBC documentary on PM Modi.
In its response, ABVP organised the screening of 'The Kashmir Files' on the campus.
After the screening, the official Twitter handle of SFI in Hyderabad University said, “Glimpses from the successful screening of the documentary 'India: The Modi Question' organized by SFI HCU on Republic Day following the call of SFI CEC. More than 400 students turned out for the screening rejecting the false propaganda and the attempts of ABVP to create unrest and the administration to disrupt the screening of the documentary.”
“SFI-HCU salutes the student community who have stood for freedom of expression and campus democracy,” it added.