BBC documentary on PM Modi lacks "common sense", "opened old wounds": British Parliamentarian

British Parliamentarian slammed the BBC over the controversial series on PM Modi, saying it as an "insult to two-time elected Prime Minister."

London, Jan 21: Lord Rami Ranger, a member of House of Lords of UK Parliament, has criticised the UK's state broadcaster BBC over the controversial series against the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

He has written a letter to Tim Davie, Director General of the BBC, condemning the documentary and slammed the broadcaster for showing a "lack of vision, common sense, and judgement by producing such an insensitive one-sided documentary." According to him, the two-part series insults the two-time democratically elected Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world but also the judiciary and Parliament which investigated the case "rigorously and exonerated him from being involved in the riots in any way."

He then condemned those stirring up religious hatred in the United Kingdom by bringing up the politics of the subcontinent to the United Kingdom. "No one has the right to divide us for cheap popularity with egregious journalism, which can have direct consequences for the nation in the long run." "The BBC documentary has opened old wounds by creating hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to paint India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted. If this had been the case, the Muslims would have left India by now," he added.

"As the chairman of the Pakistan-Indian and UK friendship Forum, we have worked for over 25 years to build bridges between two British communities, namely of Indian and Pakistani origin, to improve social cohesion in the United Kingdom," he said.

Why Not Series on Jallianwala Bagh massacre?

Rami Ranger then asked the BBC to make documentary series on the India-Pakistan wars, the famine in Bengal caused by Britain, and the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. "I urge you to stop screening the second part to avoid exasperating the already tense situation between British Hindus and Muslims in many of our cities. The timing of this documentary is sinister; when India assumed the Presidency of G20, we have our first Prime Minister of Indian origin in No.10, and we are working for the UK-India free-trade agreement," he concluded.

The Controversial Series

The BBC, which has all along attempted to isolate Hindus by selectively reporting crimes against Hindus, came up with a series that discusses PM Modi's role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. Following the outage, the documentary removed it from select platforms.

The series examines how "Narendra Modi's premiership has been dogged by persistent allegations about the attitude of his government towards India's Muslim population" and "a series of controversial policies" implemented by Modi following his 2019 re-election, including "the removal of Kashmir's special status guaranteed under Article 370" and "a citizenship law that many said treated Muslims unfairly", which "has been accompanied by reports of violent attacks on Muslims by Hindus," the BBC states.

UK PM Shuts Down Pak-Origin MP

Two days ago, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday came to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's support over the BBC's controversial documentary series, saying he "doesn't agree with the characterization" of his Indian counterpart.

The issue was raised by Pakistan-origin MP Imran Hussain in the UK Parliament. "The UK government's position on this has been clear and long-standing and hasn't changed, of course, we don't tolerate persecution where it appears anywhere but I am not sure I agree at all with the characterization that the honourable gentleman has put forward to," ANI quoted Sunak as saying while responding to Hussain's question on the BBC report.