'Why you banned BBC documentary': TMC leader's RTI amid The Kerala Story row

Gokhale said that while Modi government was promoting 'The Kerala Story', why were they “massively insecure” about people watching the BBC documentary.

Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale filed a Right to Information (RTI) application on Tuesday with the Information and Broadcast Ministry seeking the copies of files that are related to the ban on BBC's documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Trinamool Congress national spokesperson Saket Gokhale (File)

Announcing his decision to file an RTI, Gokhale said that while the Modi government was promoting Sudipto Sen's controversial movie 'The Kerala Story', why were they “massively insecure” about people watching the BBC documentary.

Gokhale tweeted, “BJP & Modi Govt went into an uproar when the hate propaganda film Kerala Story was banned by the Govt of West Bengal on grounds of law & order. However, BJP & Modi Govt banned the BBC documentary ‘India: the Modi Question’ in January by invoking emergency laws & powers. PM Modi himself promotes Kerala Story along with his ministers but is massively insecure about people watching the BBC documentary. Why the double standards?”

Gokhale further added, “If BJP genuinely claims to stand for ‘freedom of expression’, why not allow people to watch the BBC documentary & decide for themselves? Why the hypocrisy? I’ve, therefore, filed an RTI with the I&B Ministry asking for copies of all files relating to the decision of banning the BBC documentary. ‘Freedom of expression’ cannot be invoked when it is suitable to the BJP & films be banned when they expose the reality of that party.”

In the RTI, Gokhale sought “the grounds on which the documentary titled 'India: the Modi Question' produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC has been banned in India”.

Gokhale further asked to ministry to “furnish all files, file notings, correspondence, and memos relating to the decision of instituting a ban on the aforementioned documentary”.

This comes after the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the Bengal government's ban on the public screening of 'The Kerala Story', ruling the order passed by chief minister Mamata Banerjee's government was not based on any material produced before the top court.

Banerjee had then said, “West Bengal government has decided to ban the movie 'The Kerala Story'. This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state… What is 'The Kashmir Files'? It was to humiliate one section. What is 'The Kerala Story'?... It is distorted.”

'The Kerala Story' — which claims to depict the 'forced recruitment and conversion of young girls and women by the Islamic State' — triggered a furious political row even before it was released; the movie's trailer claimed 32,000 girls from Kerala went missing, were radicalised and joined the terror group.