BBC Documentary Row: Ambedkar University Students Claim Power Cut During Screening, Police On Campus

Police officers, on the other hand, stated that they were visiting all college and university campuses in the district to maintain peace and tranquillity.

Ambedkar University.

Source : File Photo

Several students said that Delhi Police officers entered the Ambedkar University campus on Friday to prevent SFI activists from displaying the controversial BBC documentary on the 2002 Godhra riots, despite alternate plans to view it on phones and computers.

Police officers, on the other hand, stated that they were visiting all college and university campuses in the district to maintain peace and tranquillity.

The left-wing Students' Federation of India (SFI) claimed that the screening was cancelled because the administration of the government-run university cut off the power supply, but a QR code with a link to the short film was distributed to students so that they could watch it on their personal devices.

The SFI had called for a screening of the documentary at 1 p.m., while the All India Students' Association (AISA) announced that it would hold a protest to condemn the events that occurred earlier this week at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Jamia Millia Islamia in response to a call for screening of the film.

"Why has the Police been called inside AUD? Students of AUD wish to express solidarity against the ABVP violence and police repression unleashed on the students of JNU and Jamia respectively. Why should the Police have any presence inside the campus," the AISA Delhi tweeted.

DCP (North) Sagar Singh Kalsi and his colleagues were touring all colleges and institutions in his district, according to a senior police officer.

"We are visiting various colleges and universities to ensure that there is no disruption of peace and tranquility in the area. The situation at Ambedkar University is peaceful and under control. Police is on the spot," he added.

According to SFI Delhi joint secretary Yashita Singhi, the university turned off the electricity to disrupt the screening.  "Even the supply to the adjacent Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women (IGDTUW) was cut. But we shared the QR code with students who are either watching it on their laptops or phones. The proctor was not happy seeing the screening proceeding like this and so, he has asked the guards to call the police," Singhi claimed.

Several students alleged that the police had asked security personnel to "check" pupils.

The university administration did not respond immediately to the presence of police on campus.

Earlier in the day, a university official stated that they learned about the screening via news reports. According to the official, no authorization was requested from them for the event.

The government has asked social media sites to restrict links to the documentary "India: The Modi Question," calling it a "propaganda work" that lacks objectivity and displays a colonial worldview.