Modi documentary: lessons for and from Bangladesh?

Dr Faroque Amin

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) released a two-part documentary late January 2023 on India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Damodardas Modi. More than a month later, different stakeholders’ responses to the documentary appear to be growing, rather than fading away.

Mid-February, Indian tax officials conducted a three-day search of BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai – a move reminiscent of the US federal authorities’ tactics in the early 1930’s to convict Italian-American mafia boss Al Capone on tax evasion charges.

In an ironic parallel, Modi’s government appears to have sent tax officials to target the media outlet after it exposed his controversial past and present actions, earning him the nickname “Butcher of Gujarat”.

Titled “India: The Modi Question”, this documentary delves into the history of

Narendra Modi, tracing his rise through the ranks of RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).

The first part of the documentary centres on Modi’s connection to the 2002 Gujarat riots, in which over a thousand people were killed mostly Muslims, where many women were reported to have been raped.

In its second part, the documentary tackles various issues plaguing India, including targeted violence and lynching of Muslims for carrying beef (cow meat), the government’s handling of protests against the National Citizenship Register, the situation in Jammu & Kashmir, and the country’s declining press freedom and freedom of speech.

In summary, the BBC documentary presents a compelling case to portray Modi, the current Prime Minister of India and supreme leader of BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party, the political front of RSS), as a xenophobic, racist, and populist leader.

This portrayal is in stark contrast to the image India has been trying hard to cultivate of Modi as a global leader and the face of a rising India.

Following the documentary’s broadcast, a report from Hindenburg Research on Gau- tam Adani, Modi’s chief financier and the third richest man in the world, alleged that he had amassed his wealth through the exploitation of state support, market manipulation and fraudulent schemes, branding him as a ‘conman’.

This simultaneous political, social, and financial upheaval in India, a country on the verge of a Muslim genocide, has significant implications for neighbouring Muslim-majority Bangladesh and vice versa.

The current regime in Bangladesh has held power for over fourteen years with the explicit backing of the Indian government, a fact that is no secret.

In March 2021, Modi visited Bangladesh to participate in the country’s independence anniversary celebrations. However, his visit sparked widespread protests against “the Butcher of Gujarat”.

Bangladesh police responded with live fire in several cities, resulting in the deaths of at least 19 people, and many more were injured and detained, though these figures only reflect official reports.

The questions raised in this documentary will be all too familiar to the Bangladeshi audience.

From the unresolved mystery surrounding the Godhra train burning, which catalysed the Gujarat riots, to the use of police and party thugs together to suppress and even kill opposition activists, the exploitation of the judiciary to absolve their own crimes, the arbitrary arrests and punishment of opposition witnesses on baseless charges, and the unexplained deaths of those who create problems for powerful politicians – these are all tactics that resonate with current Bangladesh regime.

The documentary proves that the BJP in India and the BAL (Bangladesh Awami League) in Bangladesh share a similar modus operandi, including the use of nationalistic fervour to gain popular support, much like Adolf Hitler did in pre-WWII Germany. Bangladesh has a track record of conducting heavily manipulated and staged national elections, with the 2014 and 2018 elections being compared to those of North Korea by some international media outlets.

In contrast, India’s national elections have thus far been considered legitimate. However, the similarities between the ruling parties in both countries raise the satirical question of whether the BJP in India will learn from the tactics used in Bangladesh to cling to power, should they feel the need to do so in the near future.