Ban on BBC documentary is an overreaction, unnecessary by Centre, says Shashi Tharoor

New Delhi, Jan 25: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday questioned how can broadcasting the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question' would 'undermine' the country's sovereignty. He further slammed the Centre and said that the ban on the controversial film is an overreaction and unnecessary

While speaking on the documentary on PM Modi by BBC, Tharoor said,''How can a (BBC) documentary affect sovereignty of our nation? The ban is an overreaction and unnecessary by Centre. We're a strong country, we could've ignored this. Our sovereignty and national security isn't something that can be easily affected by a documentary."

Meanwhile, the BBC documentary on PM Modi was screened across Kerala on Tuesday by various political organisations including the pro-Left Students Federation of India (SFI), as the BJP youth wing went up in arms protesting against the screening.

BBC's "India: The Modi Question" was screened in several parts of the state on Tuesday, prompting protest marches by the BJP's Yuva Morcha against the same.

Some areas of Kerala including the state capital remained tensed. In Thiruvananthapuram, police reportedly had to use water cannons and tear gas to disperse Yuva Morcha protestors.

Left students' body SFI has announced that it will screen the BBC documentary on PM Modi's at Presidency College's campus in Kolkata on Friday.

Earlier on Wednesday, JNU ABVP president said said students from Jamia came to attend the screening of the Modi documentary by BBC. The student leader said the JNU authority had strictly warned not to screen the documentary. Later, after the screening was done, a group of students tried to lynch an ABVP worker.

The Centre had last week directed blocking of multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the documentary. The two-part BBC documentary, which claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots, has been trashed by the Ministry of External Affairs as a "propaganda piece" that lacked objectivity and reflected a "colonial mindset".

The central government's move has received sharp criticism from opposition parties like the Congress and the TMC for imposing "censorship".