Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale, who had filed a Right to Information (RTI) application with the information and broadcast ministry seeking the “reason” behind the ban on BBC's controversial documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi - 'India: The Modi Question', has claimed to have received the response.
“In response, Ministry of I&B tells me that the documentary was banned based on Rule 16 of the IT Rules 2021 on ‘recommendations of Inter Departmental Committee (IDC)’,” Gokhale tweeted, in a series of post, sharing a copy of the RTI query reply, which he termed as “bizarre”.
"Now here's the facts: Rule 16 allows @MIB_India to block digital content "in cases of emergency" only After that the Ministry is required to constitute an inter-departmental committee (IDC) to review the ban. The IDC can issue ONLY RECOMMENDATIONS and NOT ORDERS. Also note that Rule 17 of IT Rules says that Ministry shall maintain complete records of proceedings of the Committee (IDC) including complaints referred & recommendations made by the Committee. Therefore, the proceedings of the IDC are PUBLIC RECORDS under RTI Act. And despite this, @MIB_India refused to tell me the reasons behind banning the BBC documentary on PM Modi because: IT would “AFFECT SOVEREIGNTY & INTEGRITY OF INDIA”. How does a documentary criticizing PM Modi affect India's sovereignty, integrity, & national security?" Gokhale tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}"Now here's the facts: Rule 16 allows @MIB_India to block digital content "in cases of emergency" only After that the Ministry is required to constitute an inter-departmental committee (IDC) to review the ban. The IDC can issue ONLY RECOMMENDATIONS and NOT ORDERS. Also note that Rule 17 of IT Rules says that Ministry shall maintain complete records of proceedings of the Committee (IDC) including complaints referred & recommendations made by the Committee. Therefore, the proceedings of the IDC are PUBLIC RECORDS under RTI Act. And despite this, @MIB_India refused to tell me the reasons behind banning the BBC documentary on PM Modi because: IT would “AFFECT SOVEREIGNTY & INTEGRITY OF INDIA”. How does a documentary criticizing PM Modi affect India's sovereignty, integrity, & national security?" Gokhale tweeted.
{{/usCountry}}The two-part documentary, which claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was chief minister, caused a massive furore in India. The government called it a “propaganda piece” and blocked it from viewing in the country.
In the document, the TMC spokesperson highlighted the point where the I&B ministry purportedly mentioned that “the proceedings of the IDC are confidential and exempt from disclosure under Section (1)(a) of the RTI Act 2005”.
“Further, despite Rule 17 of IT Rules specifying that deliberations of the IDC are public records, @MIB_India has refused to release them in the case of banning the BBC documentary. This is a CLEAR ATTEMPT of using emergency powers to censor criticism of PM Modi,” Gokhale added.
The TMC spokesperson said now an appeal will be filed asking the ministry be directed to immediately release the deliberations of IDC and why BBC documentary on Modi was banned on he grounds of “sovereignty & integrity of India”.
“Modi is NOT India. His criticism cannot be BANNED as a ‘threat to India’,” he added.
Centre's directives to YouTube and Twitter
The Centre had ordered YouTube and Twitter to remove video links of the documentary, and university administrations in various varsities denied students permission to screen the film and took action against those who did. But despite the ban, students' organisations and opposition parties screened the documentary for public viewing.
Days after the documentary became a political flashpoint, tax officials searched the offices of BBC in New Delhi and Mumbai in February. The Enforcement Directorate opened an investigation into the UK broadcaster in April over charges of violations of foreign exchange rules. A government adviser had said the inspection was not "vindictive."