The BBC offices in Mumbai and New Delhi were raided by tax authorities.
The searches will take place after the start of the BBC documentary India: The Modi Problemwho criticized the country’s President Narendra Modi.
Although the documentary was only broadcast in the UK, the Indian government called it “anti-India rubbish” and protests took place outside the BBC’s central London headquarters.
“The income tax authorities are currently based at the BBC offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and we are cooperating fully. We hope that this situation will be resolved as soon as possible,” a BBC Studios spokesperson said this morning.
India: The Modi Problem charts Modi’s political rise and looks specifically at his actions during religious riots in Gujarat in 2002 when he was the state’s chief minister. More than 1,000 mostly Muslims died in the chaos, which began after a train carrying Hindi pilgrims was set on fire, according to the BBC.
Indian free speech activists tried to get the film back on social media after it was removed when emergency legislation was passed. School children who had gathered to watch a performance were arrested last month.
India has become an increasingly hostile country to media that criticizes the government. The opposition Congress Party called the raids “undemocratic” and warned that the “dictatorial attitude must not continue”.
However, a spokesman for Modi’s ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party called the BBC “the most corrupt organization in the world”.
Source: Deadline
Mary Crossley is an author at “The Fashion Vibes”. She is a seasoned journalist who is dedicated to delivering the latest news to her readers. With a keen sense of what’s important, Mary covers a wide range of topics, from politics to lifestyle and everything in between.
