BBC Modi documentary: 4 detained outside Jamia Millia University over screening

The Delhi Police on Wednesday said that four students have been detained for allegedly creating a ruckus outside Jamia Millia Islamia University over the screening of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Left-affiliated Students' Federation of India (SFI) Wednesday announced it will screen the controversial BBC documentary on the Jamia Millia Islamia campus at 6 pm. The university administration, however, said no permission has been sought for the screening of the documentary and "we will not allow" it.

The SFI's Jamia unit has issued a poster informing the documentary will be screened at 6 pm at the MCRC lawn gate no 8.


When contacted, a Jamia official said, "They did not ask for a permission for the screening and we will not allow the screening. If students go out of their way to do something then strict action would be taken against them."

The screening at the Jamia campus comes a day after a similar screening was organised at the Jawaharlal Nehru University during which students claimed that power and internet were suspended and stones were thrown at them.


In a related incident, JNU students have alleged they were assaulted and harassed by some members of the students union, an allegation rejected JNUSU president Aishe Ghosh, who claimed they threw stones at a gathering watching a controversial BBC documentary on Tuesday.

The Left-backed AISA, whose members took part in the screening of the documentary, rejected the allegation, claiming they caught two Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members but they were not harassed.

"We caught them when they threw stones at us but did not harass them in any form," AISA JNU President Qasim said.

Several students, who gathered at the JNU students' union office for a screening of the BBC documentary, claimed the university administration cut power and internet to stop the event and staged a protest after stones were thrown at them.

They claimed that they were attacked when they were watching the documentary on their mobile phones as the screening could not be held. Some alleged that the attackers were ABVP members, a charge the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated student body denied.

(With agency inputs)