New Delhi: The Delhi Police has detained Thirteen students for organising a screening of a controversial BBC documentary on the 2002 Godhra riots at the Jamia Millia Islamia on Wednesday. According to the Students Federation of India, the detained students have not been released by police yet, as reported by the news agency PTI. No immediate response was received from the Delhi Police to the claim made by the Left-backed student body on Thursday.
The Central government recently issued directions to social media platforms to block links to the documentary titled "India: The Modi Question". The external affairs ministry has trashed the documentary and called it a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.
Scores of students were detained on Wednesday as they gathered outside the university gate to protest against the detention of four Students Federation of India (SFI) members hours before the proposed screening of the documentary. While police released a majority of the detained students on Wednesday evening, 13 are still in detention, the SFI claimed, PTI reported.
The SFI announced the screening of "India: The Modi Question" on Wednesday. The student's outfit had said the documentary would be screened at the MCRC lawn gate number 8 at 6 pm on Wednesday.
Out of the 13, four -- SFI Jamia Unit secretary Azeez, SFI South Delhi Area vice president Nivedya, and SFI units members Abhiram and Tejas -- were detained on Wednesday morning, it alleged, adding that they are all students of the Jamia Millia Islamia. "Four students were detained on Wednesday morning. It's been over 24 hours since they have been detained. The rest were detained later in the evening," said SFI Delhi committee secretary Pritish Menon, as quoted by PTI.
The university on Wednesday became the centre of a kerfuffle after SFI's plans to organise the screening of the controversial BBC documentary were thwarted by the varsity and the city police.