#Supreme court on Gujarat riot

[sasusakucore]

Trigger Warning: Rape, murder and communal violence.

This is really a grim day for bilkis bano because one of her petitions has been rejected by the supreme Court of India. She was raped and her family was murdered during the 2002 gujarat riots and her 11 rapists have been set free by the gujarat government under the current ruling party at the centre under 'good behaviour' and the bjp leaders said that they were "good sanskari brahmin men". This really shows the apathy and insensitivity of the supreme Court of India and how Muslim women face injustice in india.

[buzz-london]

Anti-India bias of the BBC

BBC's recent 2 part documentary, India, the Modi question, on PM Modi is very divisive and has a strong anti-India, anti-Hindu bias. (January 2023)

Instead of focusing on the life or achievements of the Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world, BBC focused on the controversial riots that happened at the beginning of his career as the Chief Minister (CM) of Gujarat state in India. 

On the morning of 27th February 2002, a mob of muslim rioters from Godhra, Gujarat, burned a train, killing 59 Hindu pilgrims (9 men, 25 women and 25 children). A state wide strike on the 28th Feb sparked riots across Gujarat. Army was called in and arrived on the 1st of March. Despite that, violence lasted for weeks, resulting in the death of over 2000 people, of which, 75% are presumed to be muslim. 

The main claim of people accusing PM Modi of post-Godhra riots is that he waited 3 days before calling in the army, allowing rioters to kill muslims with impunity. 

Sloppy journalists assumed 28th till 1st March was a delay of 3 days. Intelligent ones knew that Feb 2002 had 28 days! So the 1st was the very next day of the month and there was no delay of 3 days! Indian army was there the very next day of the riots, not 3 days late! I wish the BBC had checked facts rather than rely on hear-say before making grave allegations of genocide on the PM Modi! 

BBC's prog on India's PM Modi shows its obvious bias and absolute colonial arrogance! It assumes it knows more than the police, investigating agencies and the High Court (HC) of India! Every court in India, from its HC in the state of Gujarat to the Supreme Court (SC) in the centre, investigated Mr Modi for over a decade. They went through a mountain of data, investigating every claim made by every NGO and journalist to try and see if Mr Modi was complicit in the Gujarat riots of 2002. This is when the Congress party was in power and being opposed to CM Modi's BJP party, they used every lever of gov to try and nail Mr Modi. Yet at every turn, evidence showed that Mr Modi did his best to quell the riots, including calling in the army on the very day the riots started and they arrived the very next day! 

No less than the SC of India exonerated Mr Modi on all counts of all charges levelled at him. Yet, 20 years after the event, BBC continues to rack up old, unfounded allegations and continues to malign the PM of India. 

BBC has strongly insinuated in the documentary that CM Modi was voted as the PM Modi because of his anti-Muslim views. It totally ignored the fact that the nation voted him in for his 'development' model, which was explicitly agnostic of voters' religious affiliations. His party's slogan is 'Sab ka saath, sab ka vikas', ie With everyone and progress for everyone’. People across India voted him to be their Prime Ministership because of the progress and development they saw in Gujarat during his 12 year tenure as its chief minister. BBC also ignores that PM Modi has been voted back to power for a 2nd term because of the positive growth people have seen progress seen across India in his 1st term.

Last week, BBC spent the best part of the hour exploring what Mr Modi did or did not do after the riot. But, crucially, it spent no time exploring the cause of the riots - the cold blooded murder of 59 Hindu pilgrims by a muslim mob who burned them alive! Why were the lives of Hindus victims so easily disregarded by the BBC? BBC spent a lot of time talking to the muslim victims of the riots. Why did the BBC not speak to the family of the Hindu victims? Why did it not speak to the muslim extremists who murdered Hindu pilgrims? Why did it not spend any time examining the 31 people found guilty by the court system of the heinous murder of Hindu pilgrims, and instead waste time examining the 1 person exonerated of any guilt! 

BBC's series on PM Modi will do nothing to rehabilitate its image as a racist, left-wing organisation that produces biased programmes that are not fair or balanced in their content or views.

[legalstudiesin1]

What is Bilkis Bano Case?

Bilkis Bano Case and Supreme Court Judgment: Significance, Sections, and Conviction

The Bilkis Bano case, also known as the Gujarat Riots case, is a high-profile case of communal violence that occurred during the 2002 Gujarat riots in India. Bilkis Bano, a pregnant Muslim woman, was gang-raped and several members of her family were killed during the riots. In 2002, a mob attacked Bilkis Bano and her family while they were trying to flee their village in Gujarat. Bano was…

[xtruss]

World’s Most Wanted Criminal and Fascist Hindu Extremist Narendra Modi’s Illiberalism May Imperil India’s Economic Progress! Fulfilling His Great-Power Dream Requires Restraint, Not Abandon

— January 18th, 2023

“Politics And Religion Cannot Be Mixed,” ruled India’s Supreme Court in 1994 in what was then considered a decisive elucidation of the country’s secular constitution. Tell that to the millions who on January 22nd will watch Narendra Modi preside over the consecration of a controversial $220m Hindu temple, in a ceremony that marks the informal launch of his campaign for a third term as prime minister in elections to be held by May. To the alarm of India’s 200m Muslims, and many secular-minded Indians, it will mark a high point of a decades-long Hindu-nationalist project to dominate India.

Even as Mr Modi appears at the temple in Ayodhya in northern India, the other pillar of his mission continues apace: India’s extraordinary modernisation. The country is the planet’s fastest-growing major economy and now its fifth-biggest. Global investors toast its infrastructure boom and growing technological sophistication. Mr Modi wants to be India’s most consequential leader since Jawaharlal Nehru. His vision of national greatness is about wealth as well as religion. The danger is that a hubristic Hindu chauvinism undermines his economic ambitions.

To understand the strange symbolism of Ayodhya you have to travel back in time. Mr Modi’s once-fringe party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (bjp), built its name by campaigning over the status of a Mosque there from 1990. It organised a rally of Hindu activists in 1992 that led to its destruction, sparking Hindu-Muslim riots across South Asia.

The lavish Hindu temple that Mr Modi is about to open is built on the site of that destroyed mosque. For many Hindus this represents the righting of an ancient wrong: the location is also the mythical birthplace of the Hindu god Ram. Previous bjp leaders, such as Atal Bihari Vajpayee, downplayed the party’s Hindu-first ideology, known as Hindutva, to win mainstream support. After ten years in power, Mr Modi, who was implicated in deadly anti-Muslim riots in 2002 when he ran Gujarat state (he was later absolved by the courts), no longer seems so restrained.

The bjp’s radicals have been empowered. There have been Mob Attacks on Muslims. Several bjp-run states have passed anti-conversion laws. Mr Modi has exacerbated Islamophobia by, among other things, promoting a citizenship law that discriminates against Muslims. His strongman style of rule has also featured harassment and attacks on the pillars of India’s old liberal order, including the press, charities, think-tanks, some courts and many opposition politicians.

Were Mr Modi and the bjp to win a third term—as seems almost certain—many worry that the Hindutva project would go further. bjp activists are agitating to replace mosques with temples at hundreds of other sites. Mr Modi wants to scrap constitutional provisions for Muslim family law. A possible redrawing of parliamentary districts could see power accrue to the populous Hindi-speaking and bjp-supporting north, at the expense of the richer industrialised south. Mr Modi, aged 73, could rule as a strongman for a further decade or more.

The whiplash-inducing reality is that this religious and political struggle is occurring alongside enormous economic optimism. Growth has exceeded 7% in recent quarters. The country now has vastly improved transport infrastructure, huge and deep equity markets, stronger banks, massive currency reserves, a less complex tax system and less corruption. India is at last becoming a single market, letting firms exploit economies of scale and promising faster business investment. While manufacturing has yet to take off, industry is starting to couple with global supply chains, from internet routers to electric two-wheelers. The giant technology-services sector hopes to make a fortune as companies around the world seek help in adopting artificial intelligence.

Image: Alicia Tatone

The economic record is still far from perfect. The rate of formal job creation is much too low—one reason Mr Modi has built up digital welfare-schemes for the poor, augmenting his image among ordinary Hindus as a leader who cares about the downtrodden. India does too little to develop human capital and its education system is terrible. Some powerful firms have too much influence. Yet it is a foundation worth building on.

The question is whether the religious agenda and rapid economic development are compatible. The answer is yes, but only up to a point. In the past ten years many of Mr Modi’s economic accomplishments have existed alongside his religious agenda. The bjp’s parliamentary strength and Mr Modi’s popularity have made it possible to push through difficult reforms, including a national sales tax. The government’s unity and clout have given investors confidence that policy is stable, even though civil liberties have been eroded.

Yet if Mr Modi in his third term were to lurch further towards Hindutva and autocratic rule, the economic calculus would change. Take the north-south divide. If India continues to grow fast, the industrialised, wealthy and technologically advanced south is likely to pull further ahead, drawing labour from the north. But Hindutva holds little appeal in the south, and by pushing it further while concentrating more power in his own hands, Mr Modi could exacerbate already rising tensions over internal migrants, tax revenues and representation.

Or consider economic stability, which depends on the management of the economy by internationally credible technocrats, not bjp ideologues. You can overdo how much store companies put by the rule of law—they invested in China for decades. But if decision-making becomes authoritarian and erratic as Mr Modi grows old and isolated, and if institutions are weakened, firms will grow warier of deploying huge sums of capital.

As he stands at the ceremony at Ayodhya before admirers and acolytes—the leaders of India’s new, brash, nationalistic elite—does Mr Modi see this danger? He has in the past: before he was prime minister he tried to rebrand himself from a Hindu zealot into a pragmatic manager of his successful home state of Gujarat. With a third term looming, he should realise that, to fulfil his dream of making India a great power, the balancing-act must continue. It requires restraint, not abandon. If Mr Modi fails, the hopes of 1.4bn people and the prospects for the brightest spot in the world economy will be dashed. ■

— This Article Appeared in the Leaders Section of the Print Edition Under the Headline "Modi’s Juggernaut"

[mithliya]

tw for rape and violence, feel free to not read or delete

btw Idk how much yk about this, but whats happened/happening in india, in manipur isnt the first time smt like this has happened under modi. he was the chief minister of the state of gujurat and has been accused of allowing 2002 anti muslim riots

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13170914

a muslim woman named bilkis bano was raped by 11 men (she was also pregnant at the time) and her family members were murdered including her 3yo daughter during those riots. and last year modi okayed release of these demons

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62574247

now she has to go to the courtroom AGAIN and offer a plea against her rapists and killers of her family and get retraumatized in the process

https://indianexpress.com/article/india/bilkis-bano-rape-case-bilkisd-ppeal-against-remission-supreme-court-8881364/

if anyone had doubts about modi just being incompetent or smt seeing his response to what happened in manipur with those women, thats not it. hes a hindu nationalist and has always been one.

the more i learn about modi, the more horrified i am… he clearly doesn’t care about any indian women if he’s turning a blind eye to such horrific misogynistic violence.

[mariacallous]

It took a viral video for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to finally break his silence on ongoing ethnic violence in the northeastern state of Manipur. The footage, which became public only last month, sparked outrage far beyond the state: Filmed on May 4, it shows a mob assaulting two women from the Kuki minority—stripped naked—before pushing them into an empty field. Reports citing the survivors’ families revealed the complicity of the state police. Ironically, the police station a few hundred yards from the site of the crime was awarded the “Best in the Country” title in 2020.

Violence between the Meitei ethnic majority and the Kukis has hounded Manipur since May, when a court order reserving some government jobs for Meiteis exacerbated tensions over land rights, poppy farming, and religious freedoms. Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh has carved out a role for himself as the Meitei community’s de facto leader. More cases of sexual assault have come to light in the past two weeks, but Singh—a member of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—now denies that the women in the May 4 video were raped. His state government imposed an internet shutdown for weeks, hindering the spread of information.

The crisis has not subsided, and thousands of weapons stolen from police armories are still circulating among mobs. On Tuesday, India’s Supreme Court described the violence as “an absolute breakdown of law and order.” The presence of federal forces in Manipur hasn’t improved the situation: New Delhi’s strategy has instead divided the state, burning bridges between the Meiteis and Kukis. This apparent political ineptitude falls in line with the BJP’s Hindutva ideology, which identifies Hindus as India’s rightful inhabitants, justifying violence against religious minorities. In Manipur, the Meitei community sees itself as the state’s original inhabitants, replicating the use of violence against Kukis and others that it perceives as outsiders.

The use of state machinery to aid the majoritarian project in Manipur recalls the 2002 Gujarat riots targeting the state’s Muslim population, which occurred while Modi was chief minister. (An opposition politician has even invoked dark parallels to the Rwandan genocide, where the role of the state is well documented.) Manipur’s internet ban, now partially lifted, underlines institutional paranoia about controlling the narrative. Tensions have already spread into other Indian states as well as neighboring Myanmar, where the Kuki community shares ties with the Chin minority. The crisis raises serious questions about Modi’s governance model and his political ability to deal with India’s diversity and the tensions it raises.

In Modi’s statement about the viral video in Manipur, he invoked examples of sexual violence in opposition-led states, diminishing the specificity of the crime and seeking to deflect public outrage. His comments did not lead to any shift in national policy. And while sexual assault against women has captured attention, the scale of overall violence in Manipur is startling. More than 160 people are dead, and another 60,000 people are displaced. More than 4,500 weapons are missing from state armories, with officials estimating that almost all of them are with Meitei militias. More than half of these weapons are automatic—a stunning comparison with the situation in Indian-administered Kashmir, where New Delhi has fought a three-decade-old insurgency in which many militants are armed with pistols.

Manipur’s state police force is not incompetent or careless; its inaction amid the violence borders on complicity. A bulk of the weapons stolen in Manipur have not been returned to or recovered by security forces, and it is not for a lack of personnel in the state. In addition to the 29,000-strong state police, New Delhi has sent 124 federal companies—each with between 80 and 100 troops—to Manipur. Then there are 164 columns of similar strength from the Indian Army and the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary affiliate. For a state with a population of 3.2 million, this comes out to an average of nearly one security person for every 55 citizens.

In May, Modi’s government sent its army chief to Manipur and brought in a new police chief from another state to restore order, but both officials have failed to overcome the partisan state government. The state police forces are split vertically, with the new police chief asking cops to report to duty in areas where their ethnic group is in the majority. New Delhi also issued directions that cleave the state with a federally manned buffer zone between the Meitei-dominated valley and the Kuki-dominated hills. Rather than bringing the violence under control, this approach has cemented the divide between the ethnic groups. The Kukis now demand a new administrative structure separating them from the Meiteis, which is vehemently opposed by the majority community.

The administrative incompetence on the part of both the national government and the state government led by Singh reflects the majoritarian nationalism espoused by the BJP. The embrace of Hindutva in states led by the ruling party has led to the lynching of young Muslim men for the flimsy excuse of smuggling cows and to the creation of laws that seek to criminalize interfaith marriages. In Manipur, the same ideology is tailored at a subnational level: The majority Meiteis have found resonance between their indigenous Sanamahi faith and Hindutva, targeting the largely Christian Kukis. Although the fault lines of the conflict are not drawn explicitly around faith, there are religious undertones to the violence.

New Delhi’s failure to stop the violence in Manipur has not yet affected Modi on the international stage. In the wake of the Gujarat riots, which began after a fire in a train compartment killed 58 Hindu pilgrims traveling from Ayodhya, Modi described the ensuing attacks against Muslims as “a chain of action and reaction.” India’s Supreme Court at the time called Modi a “modern-day Nero,” and he was denied a visa to the United States on the grounds that he was responsible for violations of religious freedom. The ban was reversed only after he became prime minister in 2014. By contrast, in June, with violence escalating in Manipur, Modi chose to travel to Washington for an official state visit. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed him to Paris in July.

All the while, he remained silent. In the three months since the violence began, Modi has not publicly chaired a meeting on Manipur nor issued an official statement for the victims, let alone traveled to the state. In a rare press conference for Modi following his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden, the Indian leader responded to a question—only one was allowed—about the status of religious minorities in his country. Despite the question coming while churches were burning and women were being assaulted in Manipur, Modi blurted out meaningless paeans to Indian democracy. At the time, complaints to state police and federal authorities were still awaiting a response.

For New Delhi, hoping that the fires in Manipur will be doused on their own has not worked. India’s government was long able to pacify the state with support from friendly neighbors in Bangladesh and Myanmar. But as tensions spread beyond Manipur, it is at risk of losing those gains. India’s federalism is already under strain, driven by calls for “Hindi, Hindu, Hindustan,” the ominous idea of one language, one religion, and one nation defining India. States in the country’s south, where the BJP is relatively weak, have cited the decay of India’s federal structure to rally supporters, raising the possibility of some states demanding more autonomy—a demon thought to have been buried in the early years of India’s independence.

The situation in Manipur has also raised alarms about the capacity of the Indian state to clamp down on violence. Whether unable or unwilling to restore order in Manipur, the national government finds its credibility and authority frayed by the crisis. The state’s internet ban suggests a government that fears the free flow of information, using the suppression of violence as a pretext for broadly curtailing freedom of expression and depriving the citizens of their rights. No modern state can function in such digital darkness—and especially not as Modi boasts on the global stage that India’s digital public infrastructure is “highly secure, highly trusted, and highly efficient.”

In fact, the violence in Manipur is putting India’s desire to be recognized as a global power to the test. Apathy on the part of top leadership, targeting of minorities, and internet shutdowns are not the hallmarks of a country that hopes to be respected as an important player on the world stage—as much as Modi would like to avoid mentioning the issue. Furthermore, the violence in Manipur only draws attention to the fact that India has not held local legislative assembly elections in Muslim-majority Kashmir for more than a decade. The country christens itself as the “mother of democracy” and others hail it as the world’s largest democracy, but such hypocrisy overpowers any public relations campaign by New Delhi and its cheerleaders in foreign capitals.

India is no longer the world’s fastest-growing economy; Saudi Arabia is, followed by Vietnam and the Philippines. Unemployment is a serious concern, as is widening inequality  and weak rural demand. Modi and the BJP head into national elections next year with an economic record that they cannot boast about. The Ladakh border crisis with China has stripped the prime minister of national security talking points. Amid the Manipur crisis, he cannot brag about his ability to make tough calls. If the BJP decides to double down on religious polarization ahead of the elections, as it has regularly done under Modi, it could render India’s minorities even more vulnerable.

India’s leaders once stressed that the country embodied the idea of unity in diversity, allowing it to manage social and ethnic differences without pandering to majoritarian impulses. The violence in Manipur serves as warning of just how far the BJP’s pursuit of such politics could drag India down.

[freelawbydjure]

Bilkis Bano Case: Supreme Court to hear petitions against remission of 11 convicts on August 7

The Supreme Court fixed the hearing of petitions filed by Bilkis Bano and others related to the 2002 Gujarat riots on August 7, 2023. The petitions were against the remission granted to all 11 convicts for the crime of gang-raping Bilkis Bano and killing her family members. The matter will be heard by the bench headed by Justice BV Nagarathna. While hearing the matter today, Justice Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan pronounced, “The counsel for Bilkis Bano submitted that newspaper publication as directed by this court was effected on June 1, 2023, and an affidavit with that regard was filed on June 7. Similarly, in other cases, notices on the respondent are stated to be served either directly or by newspaper publication. This fact is not disputed by Solicitor-general for India Tushar Mehta appearing for both the Union of India and the State of Gujarat, as well as other counsel appearing for the private respondents. Therefore, the service on all respondents is held to be complete.”

Click here to Read Full News

Also Read: Supreme Court Latest Updates, Legal Articles, Legal News

[jhapalitimes]

LIVE: Supreme Court Shields Teesta Setalvad, Halts Arrest Order for One Week

In a significant late-night development, the Supreme Court has come to the aid of social activist Teesta Setalvad, safeguarding her from imminent arrest. The apex court has stayed the Gujarat High Court's order, which had rejected Setalvad's plea for regular bail and directed her to surrender promptly. The case pertains to allegations of fabricating evidence to falsely implicate innocent individuals in the post-Godhra riot cases of 2002. During a special late-night hearing, a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai, A S Bopanna, and Dipankar Datta expressed concerns over the denial of sufficient time for Setalvad to appeal against the High Court's decision. The bench emphasized that even an ordinary criminal is entitled to some form of interim relief and questioned the haste in denying such an opportunity to Setalvad. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman highlighted the remarkable progress made by public sector banks (PSBs) under the government's initiatives. She revealed that PSBs' net profit has nearly tripled in the past nine years, soaring to an impressive Rs 1.04 lakh crore in the current fiscal year, compared to Rs 36,270 crore in FY2014. Sitharaman stressed the need to sustain this momentum to invigorate the economy further. In France, the unrest stemming from the killing of a 17-year-old by the police continues to grip several cities, despite the deployment of a massive police presence. Rioting, arson, and looting persist, with damages observed across various locations, including Paris, Marseille, Lyon, and even French territories overseas. The government, however, expressed a glimmer of hope, suggesting that the security measures implemented are beginning to curb the violence. Nonetheless, the widespread destruction remains a cause for concern. Tragically, a 54-year-old individual lost their life in French Guiana after being struck by a stray bullet. These events reflect the multifaceted landscape of today's news, encompassing legal battles for justice, economic strides, and the social challenges faced by nations. Stay tuned for further updates on these unfolding stories.Read More:-�� LIVE: Supreme Court Shields Teesta Setalvad, Halts Arrest Order for One Week Read the full article

[verdictumofficial]

Gujarat high court Updates- Verdictum

Gujrat High Court is acclaimed and coveted for its verdict and social justice. Whether matter of Godhara Riot or decision on pending cases, Gujrat High Court and its lawyers are known for handling cases with great sincerity and honesty. If you are looking for Gujrat High Court updates and news, and also other important legal news across Gujrat then Verdictum is an advanced and emerging legal news portal where you will find all legal updates which is covered by dexterous legal journalist, content writers, graphic designers, and news anchors. The site aims to redefine legal news landscape across the country where everyone can acquire valuable insights of law through experts.  

The site aims to redefine legal news landscape across the country where everyone can acquire valuable insights of law through experts. 

The platform has well-seasoned and well-qualified team of professionals who have substantial experience in legal journalism and its allied areas. The site aims to redefine legal news through punchy and engaging content, visually stunning and appealing graphics and valuable legal insights that impacts common man’s lives and their livelihood. 

Also Read: Supreme Court Updates

[rnewspost]

Anti-India forces using Supreme Court as ‘tool', say RSS magazine on SC notice over BBC documentary

The Supreme Court was being used as a “tool”, the RSS-linked Panchjanya said on the court’s notice to the Centre over pleas challenging its order to block social media links to the BBC documentary on 2002 Gujarat riots. The magazine, in an editorial, called the BBC documentary “propaganda” to defame India. New Delhi,UPDATED: Feb 16, 2023 17:13 IST File Photo of Supreme Court By India Today Web…

[creatiview]

India has blocked the airing of a BBC documentary which questioned Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership during the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying that even sharing any clips via social media is barred. Directions to block the clips from being shared have been issued using emergency powers available to the government under the country's information technology rules, said Kanchan Gupta, an adviser to the government, on his Twitter handle on Saturday. While the BBC has not aired the documentary in India, the video was uploaded on some YouTube channels, Gupta said. The government has issued orders to Twitter to block over 50 tweets linking to the video of the documentary and YouTube has been instructed to block any uploads of the video, Gupta said. Both YouTube and Twitter have complied with the directions, he added. Modi was the chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was gripped by communal riots that left more than 1,000 people dead, by government count - most of them Muslims. The violence erupted after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire, killing 59. Human rights activists estimate at least double that number died in the rioting. Modi denied accusations that he failed to stop the rioting. A special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court to investigate the role of Modi and others in the violence said in a 541-page report in 2012 it could find no evidence to prosecute the then chief minister. Modi was later named the head of his party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which he led to power in general elections in 2014 and then in 2019. Last week, a spokesperson for India's foreign ministry termed the BBC documentary a "propaganda piece" meant to push a "discredited narrative".

[pkbnews]

SC issues notice to Centre on pleas against blocking BBC documentary on PM Modi

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to produce the original record of its decision to take down tweets circulating links to the controversial BBC documentary ‘India: The Modi Question’ on the 2002 Gujarat riots.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and MM Sundresh gave three weeks’ time for the Centre to file its response and placed the matter for hearing in April. The court was dealing with two petitions - one filed jointly by MP Mahua Moitra, journalist N Ram and advocate Prashant Bhushan, and the second by advocate ML Sharma. PKBNews

On January 21, the Centre issued directions for blocking multiple YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to the controversial documentary.

The court declined to be dragged into the issue of students being punished for airing the documentary, saying the proceedings before it will confine to legal arguments.

"We are issuing notices. Counter affidavit be filed within three weeks. Rejoinder within two weeks after that," the bench said.

The matter is listed for the next hearing in April.

The petition has also sought quashing of “all orders directly or indirectly censoring” the information including those shared on social media.

The plea claimed that the BBC documentary has “recorded facts” which are also “evidence” and can be used to further the cause of justice for the victims.

[gbwhtspro]

This is how they waste precious time of Supreme Court: Rijiju on those moving court against blocking of BBC documentary

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju. File | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on January 30 hit out at those moving the Supreme Court challenging the Centre’s decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots, saying this is how they “waste” precious time of the top court. Responding on Twitter to news reports that veteran journalist N. Ram, activist lawyer…

[arun-pratap-singh]

SC agrees to hear PILs challenging ban on BBC documentary on PM Modi

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear pleas challenging the Centre’s decision to block a BBC documentary on the 2002 Gujarat riots on Monday next week. A bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Monday took note of the submissions of lawyer M L Sharma and senior advocate C U Singh, appearing for veteran journalist N Ram and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan, seeking urgent listing of…

[xtruss]

India Invokes Emergency Laws To Ban BBC Modi Documentary

Government Accused of ‘Censorship’ Over Ban on Film, “World’s Most Wanted Criminal , Killer, Hindu Extremist,” About Prime Minister’s Role in Violence During 2002 Gujarat Riots

— Guardian USA | January 23, 2023 | Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Delhi

World’s Most Wanted Terrorist, Hindu Extremist, Killer and Criminal Narendra Modi, then Dhief Minister of Gujarat, answers questions before a supreme court-appointed panel investigating riots in Gandhinagar in 2010. Photograph: Ajit Solanki/Associated Press

The Indian government has invoked emergency laws to block a BBC documentary examining the role of the prime minister, Narendra Modi, during riots in the western state of Gujarat in 2002.

Controversy has erupted in India over the first episode of the two-part programme, India: The Modi Question, which tracked his rise through the ranks of the Bharatiya Janata party and his appointment as chief minister of Gujarat.

The BBC also uncovered memos showing that Modi’s conduct was criticised at the time by western diplomats and the British government, including in a government report which found that the riots had “all the hallmarks of an ethnic cleansing”.

Modi has been haunted for decades by allegations of complicity in the violence that took place during the Gujarat riots, which broke out after 59 Hindu pilgrims died on a train that had been set on fire. The fire was blamed on the state’s Muslim population.

Almost 1,000 Muslims died in violence across the state. Police were accused of standing by and Modi of not doing enough to protect the minority community from the Hindu mobs and even tacitly supporting the Hindu extremists. He has denied accusations he failed to stop the rioting and in 2013 a supreme court panel said there was insufficient evidence to prosecute him.

The first episode of the documentary was broadcast in the UK on Tuesday last week. It has not aired in India but its content – including unauthorised video clips – have been circulating on social media. It prompted a vehement response from the Modi government, which has described the documentary as “a propaganda piece designed to push a particular discredited narrative”.

“The bias and lack of objectivity and frankly continuing colonial mindset are blatantly visible,” said Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the foreign affairs ministry.

The documentary was also criticised in a joint statement by more than 300 former judges, bureaucrats and prominent figures who accused the BBC of pushing a British imperialist agenda and “setting itself up as both judge and jury to resurrect Hindu-Muslim tensions”.

It was also raised in the UK parliament, where the Labour MP Imran Hussain challenged the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, over the British government’s alleged knowledge of Modi’s role during in the violence. “I am not sure that I agree at all with the characterisation,” responded Sunak.

Over the weekend, India’s ministry of information and broadcasting issued directions banning any clips from the episode being shared under legislation introduced in 2021 that allow for the “blocking of information in case of emergency”.

Kanchan Gupta, an adviser at the ministry, said the government had ordered Twitter and YouTube to take down dozens of accounts that had been airing clips of the Modi documentary on the basis that it was “undermining the sovereignty and integrity of India” and “making unsubstantiated allegations”.

“Videos sharing BBC World hostile propaganda and anti-India garbage, disguised as ‘documentary’ on YouTube, and tweets sharing links to the BBC documentary have been blocked under India’s sovereign laws and rules,” Gupta said in a tweet.

The BBC has said in a statement that its documentary was “rigorously researched according to highest editorial standards”.

The decision to block the documentary comes amid an increasingly challenging environment for media and freedom of the press under the Modi government, with critical journalists and media subjected to state and judicial harassment. Last year, India slipped eight places in the press freedom index to 150 out of 180 counties, its worst position on record.

The ban on the BBC documentary was met with outrage by opposition politicians, who accused the Modi government of censorship. Mahua Moitra, an MP for opposition party Trinamool Congress, tweeted a link to a clip, writing: “Shame that the emperor and courtiers of the world’s largest democracy are so insecure. Sorry, haven’t been elected to represent world’s largest democracy to accept censorship.”

Asaduddin Owaisi, the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen party, questioned why a documentary on Modi was blocked while another upcoming film venerating Gandhi’s killer, Nathuram Godse, was being released unchallenged.