'Facts ignored': India's ex-ambassadors hit out at BBC's documentary on PM Modi

The more Western countries try to find faults with PM Modi, the more Indians will realise that he is absolutely necessary for the country's growth, observed defence expert PK Seghal.

New Delhi, Jan 21: Former envoys and other eminent Indians lashed out at the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, terming it blatant interference in India's internal affairs and attempt to destroy India-UK bilateral relations.

Speaking to ANI, Bhaswati Mukherjee, former ambassador of India to the Netherlands said, "BBC has a troubled record in dealing with India as it appears to have a colonial mindset with regard to India. It does these programs which are highly discriminatory and funded by private partners, not the British government."

"There's no factual reporting in the BBC documentary. They've completely ignored the decisions of the Supreme Court of India. The 452-paged judgement of the SC completely exonerated PM Modi and explained how the incidents took place,"said Veena Sikri, former ambassador to Bangladesh.

"By putting blame on PM Modi without verifying facts, BBC has wholly destroyed its credibility. I also suspect a strong domestic angle in the UK against PM Rishi Sunak. They're trying to whip up anti-Indian sentiments and destroy relations within India and between India and UK," Veena said.

Speaking to ANI, PK Seghal, a defence expert said, the more Western countries try to find faults with PM Modi, the more Indians will realise that he is absolutely necessary for the country's growth.

"It is BBC's ploy to demolish Modi before the 2024 polls. They will use the media to target Modi. BBC has ruined its credibility by coming out with this series. It is unfortunate that the Anglo section world, particularly the British, does not want a strong India and a strong PM," Seghal said.

Earlier in the day, a group of 302 former judges, ex-bureaucrats and veterans on Saturday slammed a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "motivated charge sheet against our leader, a fellow Indian and a patriot" and a reflection of its "dyed-in-the-wool negativity and unrelenting prejudice".

They claimed it is the archetype of past British imperialism in India setting itself up as both judge and jury to resurrect Hindu-Muslim tensions that were overwhelmingly the creation of the British Raj policy of divide and rule.

The two-part BBC documentary "India: The Modi Question" claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was the chief minister of the state.