'Colonial mindset blatantly visible': MEA slams BBC documentary on PM Modi

The Ministry of external affairs hit out at the recent documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling it a propaganda piece designed to push a nefarious narrative.

"The bias, lack of objectivity and continuing colonial mindset are blatantly visible," external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.The spokesperson said there is an agenda behind the documentary, which questions PM Modi's leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

"Do note that this has not been screened in India ... We think that this is a propaganda piece, designed to push a particular discredited narrative," Bagchi told reporters during a media briefing.

He said that the documentary is a reflection on the agency and individuals that are "peddling this narrative" again."It makes us wonder about the purpose of this exercise and the agenda behind it. Frankly, we don't wish to dignify such efforts," the ministry said.

The BBC's two-part series called "India: The Modi Question" has provoked sharp reactions. "A look at tensions between Indian PM Narendra Modi and India's Muslim minority, investigating claims about his role in the 2002 riots that left over a thousand dead," says the series descriptor.

A Supreme Court-appointed probe found no evidence of any wrongdoing by PM Modi, who was Chief Minister of Gujarat when the riots broke out. The Special Investigation Team, in a report a decade after the riots, exonerated PM Modi citing "no prosecutable evidence". In June last year, the Supreme Court backed the clearance to PM Modi and said the case was "devoid of merits" and was filed "obviously, for ulterior design".