BBC ruined its credibility by making the documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former Indian ambassadors said on Saturday amid the ongoing controversy over India: The Modi Question, a two-part series. The British broadcaster ignored facts in the documentary, the former envoys said to news agency ANI.
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Bhaswati Mukherjee, former ambassador of India to the Netherlands said, “BBC has a troubled record in dealing with India as it appears to have a colonial mindset with regard to India. It does these programs which are highly discriminatory and funded by private partners, not the British government.”
Veena Sikri, former ambassador to Bangladesh said, “There’s no factual reporting in the BBC documentary. They’ve completely ignored the decisions of the Supreme Court of India. The 452-paged judgement of the SC completely exonerated PM Modi and explained how the incidents took place.”
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“By putting blame on PM Modi without verifying facts, BBC has wholly destroyed its credibility. I also suspect a strong domestic angle in the UK against PM Rishi Sunak. They’re trying to whip up anti-Indian sentiments and destroy relations within India and between India and UK,” Veena said.
PK Seghal, a defence expert, spoke to ANI and said the more Western countries try to find faults with PM Modi, the more Indians will realise that he is absolutely necessary for the country’s growth. “It is BBC’s ploy to demolish Modi before the 2024 polls. They will use the media to target Modi. BBC has ruined its credibility by coming out with this series. It is unfortunate that the Anglo section world, particularly the British, does not want a strong India and a strong PM,” Seghal said.
More than 300 eminent Indians, including retired judges, bureaucrats, and armed forces veterans, signed a statement condemning the BBC for its ‘unrelenting prejudice’ toward India and its leader.
