DU forms disciplinary panel to investigate row over screening of documentary on Gujarat riots

The Delhi University on Saturday formed a seven-member committee to investigate the row outside its Arts Faculty building on January 27 over the screening of a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, PTI reported.

The committee, headed by Proctor Rajini Abbi, has been asked to submit the report to Vice Chancellor Yogesh Singh by January 30.

The university said that step has been taken to enforce discipline and maintain law and order on the campus.

Twenty-four persons were detained by the police for planning to screen the documentary on Friday. Heavy police deployment was also maintained in the university’s North Campus and large gatherings were banned.

The first episode of the BBC’s two-part documentary titled India: The Modi Question was released on January 17. It alleges that a team sent by the British government had found that Modi, who was the chief minister of Gujarat when the riots took place, was “directly responsible for a climate of impunity” that led to the violence against Muslims. The second part was released on Tuesday.

While the documentary has not been made available in India, pirated links of the film have been shared widely on online platforms.

On January 20, the government had used emergency powers available under the Information Technology Rules, 2021, to issue directions to YouTube and Twitter to block clips of the documentary from being shared. The foreign ministry had described the documentary as “a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative”.

Screenings of the documentary were disrupted at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia University earlier this week.

BBC documentary’s claims

The documentary cites a report prepared by an inquiry team sent by the British government to look into the 2002 Gujarat riots. The team had alleged that Modi had prevented the Gujarat Police from acting to stop violence targeted at Muslims, the BBC documentary claimed.

A former British senior diplomat, one of the investigators sent by the United Kingdom government, had said in the documentary that the violence had been planned by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, an affiliate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.