Indian diaspora protests against BBC in five UK cities

The Indian diaspora is holding a nationwide protest against the BBC in the UK today. Indians are protesting in London, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow and Newcastle against the BBC documentary – India: The Modi Question.

The silent protests in all the five cities are being held in front of BBC offices for its “anti-India, anti-Hindu propaganda”.

The placards read: “BBC, you don’t deserve public money”, “British Bias Corporation”, “Hindu lives matter”, and “Boycott BBC, Shame on BBC”.

An event invite by the Indian Diaspora UK (IDUK) says: “We strongly condemn the BBC for failing to meet the highest standards of editorial impartiality in its two-part documentary “India: The Modi Question”. The documentary is yet another example of BBC’s agenda driven reporting and institutional bias that now characterises this once globally respected organisation”.

Meanwhile, the Hindu Community Organisations Group (HCOG) based in Leicester too has sought an appointment with BBC Director General Tim Davie regarding the controversial documentary. Writing about the BBC documentary, the HCOG in its two-page letter to the BBC says: “… It goes without saying that this has really angered the Indian diaspora living here in the UK and the same is the reaction from world over”.

Many Indian Muslims including in the diaspora have panned the documentary on Modi, calling it a hit job amidst India’s rising global profile.

The documentary has raised a storm as it puts the blame of the Gujarat riots of 2002 on Modi – the then state Chief Minister. The documentary glosses over the fact that the riots began after a Muslim mob burnt 59 Hindu men, women and children alive by setting fire to a coach of the Sabarmati Express at the Godhara station and locking the compartment from outside.

British Indians are enraged against the local media like the BBC and The Guardian for their prejudicial reporting against the Hindu community after mobs of Muslims attacked Hindus and the local police in Leicester – one of the top ten British cities. The Hindu community alleged that the British media published articles quoting Muslim radicals who blamed Hindus for the Leicester violence which they had themselves perpetrated.

British Hindus feel that biased reporting by the BBC will make the community vulnerable to attacks from Muslim radicals. The feeling among the Indian diaspora is that the BBC documentary is sowing seeds of hate in India among the Muslim and Hindu communities not just in the UK but also in India.

Also read: Diaspora against BBC documentary on Modi, to hold London protest