Student groups screen BBC documentary on PM Modi, 'The Kashmir Files' film at Hyderabad varsity
Hyderabad, Jan 26: The Students Federation of India (SFI) on Thursday organised the screening of the controversial BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots at the University of Hyderabad (UoH) here even as the RSS' student wing, ABVP showed the controversial film 'The Kashmir Files', on the campus.
The Fraternity Movement in UoH campus, a students' group, had earlier organised the screening of the BBC documentary "India: The Modi Question" on January 21, at the varsity campus without prior notice or permission, prompting the University authorities to seek a report on the incident for taking necessary action.
The screening of the documentary "India: The Modi Question", the access to which was recently blocked by the Centre on social media platforms, was earlier announced by the SFI at the university campus.
"Glimpses from the successful screening of the documentary 'India: The Modi Question' organised by SFI HCU on the Republic Day following the call of SFI CEC. More than 400 students turned up for the screening, rejecting the false propaganda and the attempts of ABVP to create unrest and the administration to disrupt the screening of the documentary. SFI-HCU salutes the student community who have stood for freedom of expression and campus democracy," a social media post by SFI HCU said, tagging the photos.
UoH, is also known as Hyderabad Central University (HCU).
Countering it, the students of ABVP HCU organised the screening of 'The Kashmir Files,' on the university campus today.
Written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, the Bollywood film depicts the exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from Kashmir following systematic killings of people from the community by Pakistan-backed terrorists.
UoH Registrar Devesh Nigam in a statement said the Dean-Students' Welfare had counselled the student groups and issued an appeal not to do any screening of films in view of the law and order issue, maintaining peace and tranquility in campus and forthcoming end semester exams starting from next week.
However, students decided to go ahead with their programme schedule.
"We have come to know that one group held the screening in one of the hostels," he said adding the campus is peaceful.
Earlier, a group of ABVP members staged a protest in front of the main gate of the varsity and raised slogans against the University administration alleging that the security personnel did not allow them to enter the varsity premises along with the screening equipment.
They held a sit-in and sought to know from the University administration how permission was granted to the SFI to screen the BBC documentary and said they will not allow its screening.
"The University Administration tried to stop the screening of the movie "The Kashmir Files". When ABVP Karyakartas were bringing the projector from the main gate, University Security manhandled our Karyakartas. There was another attempt by the administration to seize our projector. We protested at the main gate and we have arranged everything for the screening. We appeal to the student community to join us in large numbers at Ambedkar Chowk (North ShopCom)," a social media post by the ABVP HCU said.
The Union government had last week directed social media platforms such as Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary "India: The Modi Question". The Ministry of External Affairs has trashed the documentary as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.
The two-part documentary claims it investigated certain aspects relating to the 2002 Gujarat riots when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the chief minister of the state.
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HC questions Delhi govt over failure to regulate sale of old vehicles, refers to Red Fort blast
New Delhi (PTI): The Delhi High Court questioned the city government on Wednesday over its failure to regulate the sale and transfer of used vehicles, while pointing out that in a recent bomb blast near the Red Fort, a second-hand car was used, making the issue more significant.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the Delhi government to file a detailed response on the issue of regulating authorised dealers of registered vehicles.
"A car changes four hands but the original owner has not changed. Therefore, what happens? That man (the original owner) goes to the slaughterhouse? What is this? How are you permitting this? You will take a call when two-three more bomb blasts take place?" the bench asked the Delhi government's counsel.
The bomb blast near the iconic Mughal-era monument was carried out using a second-hand car, making the issue even more significant, it said.
The court listed the matter for further hearing in January 2026.
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The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) plea filed by an organisation, Towards Happy Earth Foundation, highlighting the challenges in the implementation of rules 55A to 55H of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, introduced in December 2022 to regulate authorised dealers of registered vehicles.
While the rules were intended to bring accountability to the second-hand vehicle market, the petitioner's counsel argued that they have failed in practice due to regulatory gaps and procedural hurdles.
The plea said there is a major gap in the amended framework, that is, the absence of any statutory mechanism for reporting dealer-to-dealer transfers.
"In reality, most used vehicles pass through multiple dealers before reaching the final buyer, but the rules recognise only the first transfer to the initial authorised dealer.
"As a result, the chain of custody breaks after the first step, defeating the very purpose of accountability," the petition said.
It added that because of these gaps, only a very small percentage of dealers across India have been able to obtain authorised dealer registration and in Delhi, not a single dealer has got it.
Consequently, lakhs of vehicles continue to circulate without any record of who is actually in possession of those, it said.
The plea said only a small fraction of India's estimated 30,000 to 40,000 used-vehicle dealers are registered under the authorised-dealer framework.
The petition also pointed out that the 11-year-old vehicle used in the November 10 bomb blast near the Red Fort was sold several times but was still registered in its original owner's name.
The blast near the Red Fort had claimed 15 lives.
