BBC documentary row: Students detained at DU's Arts faculty

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Friday detained students and members of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) from outside the Faculty of Arts at the University of Delhi in the wake of a call by NSUI-KSU for the screening the BBC documentary series on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Provisions under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) are imposed outside the Faculty of Arts at Delhi University in the wake of a call by NSUI-KSU for the screening of a BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A large number of security personnel have also been deployed outside the Faculty of Arts.

The BBC documentary has created a fresh row in the country after the government, earlier this month, denounced it and described it as a "propaganda piece" that is designed to push a discredited narrative. The government also pulled down the BBC documentary 'India: The Modi Question' from various social media platforms including Twitter and Youtube.

The row further deepened after JNUSU members allegedly faced a "deliberate" power outage, while they were screening the impugned BBC documentary at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus in the national capital.

The documentary leads to opposition attacking the government on freedom of speech despite the government terming it as a 'propaganda piece'. Earlier on Wednesday, 13 students were detained after some students tried to create a ruckus outside the Jamia Millia Islamia University over the screening of a BBC documentary. The Delhi Police said the university administration did not allow the screening of the BBC documentary in the campus.

On Monday the administration of the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi also warned against screening the BBC documentary on the campus after a group of students released a pamphlet inviting students to a screening of the film at the students union's office at 9 pm on Tuesday (January 24).

The JNU Students Union wrote to the university administration over its firm advisory against the screening of the BBC documentary stating that they "do not seek to create any form of disharmony" and their purpose is to only watch it on the campus. It also mentioned in the letter that the students with "voluntary interest" would take part in the screening.

Later in the night, the JNU students marched toward Vasant Kunj police station claiming stone pelting by members of ABVP while the said documentary was being screened. The protest was later called off after the police assured students of taking up the matter and looking into it immediately.