New Delhi, February 17
Terming BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as “propaganda video” and a “disgraceful piece of shoddy journalism,” British MP Bob Blackman has said that it should never have been released and that it didn’t look at the “all-important fact” that India’s Supreme Court investigated the claims against Narendra Modi in connection with the 2002 riots and found that there is not a shred of evidence to support them.
In an interview with ANI, Blackman also talked about the issue “around the review of the British Broadcasting Coropration’s (BBC) tax affairs” in the context of Income Tax department’s survey at its offices in India and said “this is nothing new and has been going on for quite sometime”.
He said there have been discussions between the Income tax authorities in India and the BBC and the broadcaster has to follow the relevant rules and regulations.
Blackman is a member of ruling Conservative and MP for Harrow East, said that as Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2002, Narendra Modi had done his best to try and appeal for calm during the riots.
Blackman accused the BBC documentary of casting aspersions and said it is extremely regrettable because it would seem as if there was some sort of agenda of BBC to disrupt UK-India relations. “I think that’s a great shame.”
Noting that the British government regards India as a strong friend, a strong ally and the two countries were negotiating a trade deal, he said anything that disrupts the process is extremely regrettable.
The British MP said the Indian government has done a remarkable job under PM Modi of transforming the country’s economy and it is on track to become the leading economy in the world.
