Recent disciplinary procedures taken by the famous University of Delhi against students who participated in the screening of the BBC documentary “India: The Modi Question” have drawn criticism. The documentary, which explores the ascent to power of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has drawn controversy and condemnation from a number of Indian sectors. Human rights organisations and the media criticised the institution for the BBC film punishment of suspending the guilty students from their academic programmes.
An in-depth analysis of the matter and an argument for the University of Delhi’s revocation of the BBC film punishment against the students engaged in the documentary will be provided in this article.
Background of the controversy
Police removed Delhi University students from the campus on 26 January 2023 night as they attempted to hold a public screening of a contentious BBC documentary series against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP’s purported communal tactics. This occurred barely two days after Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in Delhi saw similar events.
Although the aim was for students to see the documentary in peace, according to student activists, the police behaved forcefully. Additionally, they claimed that people gathering for the event were attacked by “Sanghi goons”—a reference to the RSS and its wings, the mentor organization of the BJP.
Do cops have control? 24 students were held, according to Sagar Singh Kalsi, and things are now “back to normal.”
Academicians questioning university authorities
On April 6, 2023, 59 academics wrote to the University of Delhi on behalf of the India Academic Freedom Network to request that the BBC film punishment be meted out to students for watching a documentary about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his alleged role in the Gujarat riots be lifted. The failure to acquire consent for its screening was seen as “not a serious enough offence” to bar students from sitting exams in the letter to vice-chancellor Prof. Yogesh Singh.
Since the film is not legally outlawed in the nation, the letter said that there is no justification for disciplining the kids. The letter was signed by several academics from different universities, including Apoorvanand, Satish Deshpande, Nandini Sundar, Ira Raja, Sucharita Sen from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Sudipta Bhattacharyya from Visva Bharati.
We don’t need to remind you that the university is meant to be a place where faculty and students are free to seek out knowledge from any source, make their own decisions, and express themselves any way they see fit. They are capable of making independent judgements as adults. Teachers and administrators are not in place to control or monitor students’ opinions or information sources.
The letter stated
India: The Modi Question, a documentary, critically examines the role that Gujarat’s then-chief minister Modi played in the 2002 massacre of Muslims there. On January 27, 2023, various student organisations screened it on campus. The Delhi Police detained 24 students from the Arts Faculty of Delhi University the following day, and a disciplinary committee suspended two PhD candidates, Lokesh Chugh and Ravinder Singh, from all academic activity for a year, including examinations, for allegedly plotting to show the video.
The DU registrar stated that the BBC documentary was “banned” in a memo that was released on March 10 and asked six additional students to submit written excuses to the administration for showing the film without authorization. The academics’ reaction, however, questioned the reasons for the BBC film punishment, contending that they were not justified.
DU Registrar vs India Academic Freedom Network
The Registrar of DU asserted that the BBC documentary India: The Modi Question is “banned” in a memo dated March 10.
The Union government, however, had ordered Twitter and YouTube to remove any links to the documentary. The letter from the India Academic Freedom Network stated that “the documentary was never banned and is still not by the government.”
Separately, the V-Dem Institute observed that India is one of 22 nations and territories out of 179 whose institutions and researchers experience “significantly less freedom today than 10 years ago” in its 2023 update to its “Academic Freedom Index.”
