FTII students screen BBC documentary on Modi

“It is being reported that a group of students screened the documentary. The matter will be looked into,” Sayyid Rabeeh-ashmi, FTII Registrar, told PTI.

The Centre has opposed the film and evoked an emergency law to have it blocked on YouTube and Twitter, but links are being circulated on various platforms such as WhatsApp.

“We, as students of India, feel that people should watch the film although it is banned. We condemn the censorship,” said an FTII student. On their social media page, the students’ body announced, “Throughout history, the banning of literature, music, and in recent times, media, has been a sign of a crumbling society. The act of scrutiny should be welcomed by our elected representatives. Instead, they quickly tag it as false propaganda and try to shove it under the rug. They should know that the sure-fire way for something to be watched is to ban it.”

The statement from students added that the documentary “barely scratches the surface of the kind of violence that has been perpetuated throughout the country for a dedicated, singular, vicious purpose. It would be startling to us if anyone in India was surprised by the happenings in this documentary. Communal violence has become a part of the parcel of the ruling party’s politics. The voices echoing the Prime Minister’s words and giving credibility to his actions are given a place in this series. It must not go unnoticed that these voices themselves deserve rigorous scrutiny. The film doesn’t burden itself with any such investigation.”

The students do not have any plans, at present, to have another screening. “Censoring must be met with a counter, especially when its motives are so blatant, and so we watched it,” the association said.