Protest outside TISS Mumbai ahead of BBC documentary screening, security beefed up

Security was increased outside the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) on Saturday as students planned to go ahead with the screening of the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM) held a protest outside the university campus against the students’ plan to screen the controversial documentary.

The screening is being organised by the Progressive Students’ Forum (PSF), which said the screening was a symbolic protest against the government’s move to block access to the controversial documentary. It added that their move is in solidarity with student organisations at other college campuses.

Meanwhile, the university administration issued a notice on Friday asking the students to refrain from screening the documentary, adding that the institute has not given any permission for it. ” Any action by students against this advisory will be dealt with strictly as per the rules,” said the notice.

This comes in the wake of several institutions across India getting into controversy over the screening of the BBC documentary. In Delhi, 24 students from Delhi University were detained outside the Faculty of Arts on Friday after chaos erupted after students’ outfits (NSUI-KSU) gave a call to screen the documentary.

Students’ Federation of India (SFI) members also planned a screening of the documentary at Delhi’s Ambedkar University. SFI alleged that the screening could not be held as the university administration disconnected the power supply.

Similar incidents took place in Jamia Milia Islamia, Jawaharalal Nehru University. Other institutes, including the University of Hyderabad, Kolkata’s Jadavpur University, Presidency University also made plans to screen the documentary — India:The Modi Question — which examines Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s alleged role during the 2002 Gujarat riots.