Over 70 held at JMI ahead of BBC documentary screening
Classes suspended; RAF deployed at university gate ‘to maintain law and order’ both because of the screening and India’s Republic Day on Jan.26, say Delhi Police
Over 70 students have been detained ater they gathered to protest against the detention of four Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) students associated with the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) ater the announcement of screening of a controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Mass Communication department of the university on Wednesday evening.
The Delhi Police did not immediately confirm if students were detained but said there was heavy deployment of police and security forces in riot control gear at the university.
Classes in the varsity were suspended and police teams, including the Rapid Action Force (RAF), were deployed near the gate of JMI on Wednesday.
The deployment was “to maintain law and order” both because of the screening and India’s Republic Day on Jan.26, police said.
Witnesses said police, some in plain clothes, scuffled with protesting students and detained at least half a dozen, who were taken away in a van.
The screening of the documentary was scheduled at 6pm.
However, the varsity had said on Tuesday that the administration will not allow any unauthorised gatherings on the campus ater the SFI announced the screening.
The developments came ater high drama prevailed on the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) campus late on Tuesday evening ater the students alleged that they were atacked with stones while watching the controversial documentary.
However, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Manoj C, denied reports of stone pelting.
When asked about the incident, the DCP said, “I repeat, no such incident has been reported to us so far.”
“If we receive a complaint from any section of JNU, necessary legal action as deemed appropriate will be taken,” the DCP said.
Internet service and electricity connection at the office of the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) were snapped for around three hours on Tuesday evening ater some students wanted to screen the documentary.
The media coordinator for the university administration did not comment when asked about the power cut on the campus.
Authorities said it would disturb peace on campus, but students nonetheless watched the documentary on their laptops and mobile phones ater sharing it on messaging services such as Telegram and Whatsapp.
“There are about 300 people streaming the documentary now in campus on their phones since the power went out about half an hour before the screening,” a student, who did not wish to be identified, said.
Footage from inside the campus showed some students huddled together and watching the film on a laptop propped up on a chair.
The JNU administration had earlier asked the students to cancel the screening of the documentary – “India: The Modi Question.”
The varsity administration, in a stern warning, told the students that disciplinary action may be initiated as per the university rules if anyone screens the documentary.
“The concerned students/individuals are firmly advised to cancel the proposed programme immediately, failing which a strict disciplinary action may be initiated as per the university rules,” it said.
The documentary has caused a storm at other Indian universities too.
Authorities at the University of Hyderabad, began a probe ater a student group showed the banned documentary earlier this week.
In Kerala, workers from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) held demonstrations on Tuesday ater some student groups affiliated with rival political parties defied the ban and screened the programme.
India’s Foreign Ministry last week called the documentary a “propaganda piece designed to push a particularly discredited narrative” that lacks objectivity, and slammed it for “bias” and “a continuing colonial mindset.” Kanchan Gupta, a senior adviser in the government’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, denounced it as “anti-india garbage.”
The ban on the BBC documentary comes ater a proposal from the government to give its Press Information Bureau and other “fact-checking” agencies powers to take down news deemed “fake or false” from digital plaforms.