Rights groups to screen BBC documentary ahead of Modi’s visit

WASHINGTON – Two days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington, two human rights groups have announced the screening of a BBC documentary.

The documentary looks at Modi’s leadership during the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in the western Indian state of Gujarat.

Prominent groups Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have scheduled the private screening for June 20 in Washington.

They have invited policymakers, journalists, and analysts to attend.

Human Rights Watch said it was doing so to remind people that the documentary had been banned in India.

The two-part documentary looks at Modi’s tenure as chief minister of Gujarat during the 2002 riots.

More than 2,000 people were killed in the riots, most of them Muslims.

 A prominent Muslim leader and former Member of Parliament, Ehsan Jeffery, was also killed in full public gaze and his body was subsequently burned.

He had telephoned Modi, who was chief minister to save him and those who had sought refuge in his house.

Modi has denied accusations that he did not do enough to prevent the riots.

The Indian government reacted angrily to the BBC documentary, which was released in January.

The government blocked the distribution of excerpts of the film on social media.

The White House last month defended Modi’s planned state visit when asked about the human rights situation in India.

 Human rights groups have expressed concern at the human rights situation in India.

Minorities, dissidents, and journalists are believed to have been targeted under the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government under Modi.

Income Tax officials inspected BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai in February.

They opened an investigation into the British broadcaster in April, accusing it of violations of foreign exchange regulations.

The BBC had previously said it stood by its documentary, which was not broadcast in India.