In January 2023, protests by students erupted at JNU and Delhi University for attempting to screen the documentary on campuses.
NEW DELHI — Several students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday held the screening of a banned BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, defying an advisory issued by the university administration warning of strict action.
The screening, organised by the Left-backed All India Students’ Federation (AISF), was initially planned to be displayed on a projector, PTI reported.
However, the organisers claimed that security personnel damaged the projector. Consequently, the students screened the documentary on a laptop at the university’s Ganga Dhaba, where scores of students gathered to watch it in the presence of security personnel.
On Monday, the JNU administration had issued an advisory cautioning students against participating in the screening, stating that it could “disrupt communal harmony” on campus.
The university warned of strict disciplinary measures if the directive was violated.
AISF leaders alleged that the administration and security personnel were attempting to stifle dissent and curb freedom of expression.
“The cyclopes (JNU security personnel) manhandled the students and the JNUSU joint secretary Sajid. They damaged the projector but still the students watched the documentary in protest. They have refused to surrender before this tyranny. They have refused to give up on their rights of freedom of speech and protest,” an AISF representative alleged.
The JNUSU, in a statement, condemned the advisory issued by the varsity calling it an attack on the students’ fundamental rights.
“It is deeply hypocritical that while the administration has consistently tried to suppress screenings of documentaries critical of the government, it has simultaneously given a free hand to films that propagate the RSS-BJP agenda, the statement said.
Movies like “The Kerala Story”, “The Kashmir Files”, and “Jahangir National University”, and “The Sabarmati Report” which openly promote divisive, fascist ideologies, were permitted without question on campus,” it added.
