Gujarat BJP MLA to move resolution in Assembly seeking action against BBC on 2002 riots documentary
Ahmedabad (PTI): Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Vipul Patel will on Friday move a resolution in the Assembly seeking "strong action" against the "concocted" findings shown in a BBC documentary, which he alleged "once again attempts to blame the then state government" for the 2002 post-Godhra riots.
The proposed resolution will likely say the BBC documentary was a "low-level attempt" to tarnish India's global image.
"India is a democratic country and freedom of expression is at the core of its Constitution, but that does not mean that a news media can abuse such freedom," according to the summary of the proposed resolution shared by the Assembly secretariat on Tuesday.
The two-part BBC documentary, titled "India: The Modi Question", claimed it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state.
"If someone behaves or acts like this (BBC), then he cannot be taken lightly. BBC is losing its credibility and seems to be working with some hidden agenda against India and the Indian government. Hence, this House requests the Central Government to take strict action against the mind-boggling findings shown in the BBC documentary," said a note on the resolution to be moved by Patel.
"The controversial documentary again "attempts to blame the then-state government for the 2002 Godhra riots and subsequent communal riots in Gujarat," said the note.
The BBC documentary misrepresents the events of 2002 and is a malicious and low-level attempt to tarnish India's global image, it said.
Through the documentary, deliberate attempts have been made to tarnish the image and popularity of Prime Minister Modi with an agenda to affect India's goal to be in a top place in the world, said the note.
This, despite the fact that the Nanavati-Shah inquiry commission concluded after a thorough investigation that the burning of the Sabarmati Express near Godhra railway station on February 27, 2002, was a premeditated conspiracy, and the riots that followed were spontaneous, it said.
The commission found no evidence that the state government or any religious organization or political party played any role in the riots, stated the note.
The Assembly, which is having its Budget session, will meet on Friday after a two-day break.
The BJP has 156 MLAs in the 182-member House.
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Cong says Modi 'has lost authority to continue as PM', cites Ram Madhav's remarks on oil, tariffs
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Friday said Narendra Modi has lost his authority to continue as the prime minister, claiming that a senior RSS leader has made a "clear admission" that Modi is "dancing to Washington's tunes".
Congress general secretary, Organisation, K C Venugopal shared a video of RSS leader Ram Madhav on X where the latter says that India agreed to stop buying oil from Iran and Russia and also agreed to higher tariffs imposed by the US.
Madhav, however, later apologised saying what he said was "wrong as India did not agree to stop import of oil from Russia. "What I said was wrong. India didn't agree to stopping import of oil from Russia anytime."
"Also it vigorously protested 50 per cent tariff imposition. I was trying to make a limited counterpoint to the other panellist. But factually incorrect. My apologies," Madhav said in a post on X while sharing his video.
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Madhav along with RSS general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale are on a visit to the United States and attended an event at the Hudson Institute in Washington.
In a post on X, Venugopal said, "Clear admission by a senior RSS leader - PM Modi is dancing to Washington's tunes.
"There was once a time when the US' 7th Fleet was in the Bay of Bengal, and India didn't budge. And then there is today, where a Compromised PM has handed over India's sovereignty to the US," Venugopal said in a post on X.
The Congress leader said this is exactly what Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and the entire Opposition has been saying. "India has lost its independent voice on the world stage.
"After this surrender, it's clear that Narendra Modi has lost his authority to continue as Prime Minister," Venugopal said in his post.
In the video shared by Venugopal along with his post, Ram Madhav is heard saying, "India agreed to stop buying oil from Iran. We agreed to stop buying oil from Russia, facing so much criticism from our Indian opposition."
"We agreed to a 50 per cent tariff...Agreed means, we did not say anything. We maintained our patience. 50 per cent tariffs we agreed. Today, in the new trade deal also we agreed for 18 per cent tariffs higher than what it used to be.... I mean, average tariff.
"So, where is India lagging behind in that. What are those issues where India is not doing enough?" Madhav is heard saying in the video during an interactive session at the Hudson Institute.
