BBC waging information war: Russia on BBC documentary on India's PM Modi

Agencies | Moscow

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com   

Russia on Monday attacked the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) over its documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has triggered a massive controversy both in India and abroad.

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov's spokesperson has accused the UK broadcaster of waging an information war not only against Russia but against other countries following an independent policy, ANI reported.

"I would like to draw your attention to the fact that it is yet another evidence of BBC waging an information war on different fronts - not only against Russia, but also against other global centers of power pursuing an independent policy" the spokesperson said.

"After a certain no. of years, it turns out that BBC is fighting even within the British establishment, being an instrument of the interests of some groups against others.

It should be treated accordingly", the spokesperson added.

The controversial BBC documentary chronicling the events which transpired during the 2002 Gujarat riots when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state, has triggered a massive political slugfest.

Terming the two-part series ‘India: The Modi Question’ a propaganda piece, the Centre blocked several Twitter accounts and YouTube videos sharing the documentary.

Amid the ongoing row, PM Modi while addressing a National Cadet Corps (NCC) rally said futile attempts were made to ‘divide’ people of the country. “...to prevent India’s goal of progressing, its motto of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’, many excuses are being dug, different topics scraped to divide the children of mother India…despite lakhs of such attempts they will not succeed,” he said.

The documentary has been screened by opposition parties and students organisations in several university campuses across India.

UK's Indian-origin PM Rishi Sunak had defended Modi in the British Parliament by distancing himself from the documentary.

Sunak said he does not agree with the ‘characterisation’ of his Indian counterpart.Last week, the United States had said that it supports the need of a free press around the world and made it a point in India as well.

US State Department spokesperson Ned Price replied to a query by a Pakistani journalist on the documentary, "I'll say generally, when it comes to this, we support the importance of a free press around the world,” Price replied.