Human Rights watch, one the world’s premier Human Rights watch dog has castigated the Indian government’s blocking of a BBC documentary over Narendra Modi’s alleged role in the anti-Muslim massacre in Gujarat state in 2002.
HRW in a statement said that censoring the film was India’s latest attempt to prevent criticism of the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Soon after the documentary’s release, Indian authorities invoked emergency powers under the Information Technology Rules to compel social media platforms to take down the video in India,” Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia Director of HRW said in a statement.
In February 2002, there was a killing spree of rape and killings across Gujarat after some Muslims attacked a train carrying Hindu pilgrims. More than 1,000 were reportedly killed in the aftermath, most of them Muslim.
Internationally, Indian diplomats push back aggressively at any criticism of Modi’s involvement in serious human rights abuses, the statement read.
She said that BJP supporters have honored men convicted of gang rape and murder in the 2002 riots.
“The BJP’s ideology of Hindu primacy has infiltrated the justice system and the media, empowering party supporters to threaten, harass, and attack religious minorities, particularly Muslims, with impunity,” Meenakshi said, as per the statement.
The Modi government has adopted discriminatory laws and policies against Muslims and attempted to curb independent institutions. It has frequently used draconian laws to jail critics, read the HRW statement.
She said that India’s image would be served if the authorities made greater effort protecting the rights of all Indians – and the rights of those wanting to bring these issues to public attention.