SHAME on the BBC -- British Broadcasting Corporation -- for carrying a totally negative and purposefully antagonistic narrative through a documentary on Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi. Shame also on a British Member of Parliament of Pakistani origin to have tried to blame Mr. Narendra Modi for the Gujarat riots that took place more than twenty years ago. Obviously, these two developments appear to be part of a conspiracy to malign the fair name of Mr. Modi internationally by citing events from whose blame Mr. Modi has been absolved totally by all official channels when Mr. Narendra Modi was not Prime Minister of India.

However, we must thank Britain’s Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak to have slammed the effort in British Parliament to malign the Indian Prime Minister. Mr. Sunak showed the courage as well as conviction to stand tall and firm to defeat the purpose of the Pakistan-origin Member of Parliament.

The whole world knows that various probes and investigations have absolved Mr. Narendra Modi from charges of having masterminded the Gujarat riots in 2001. The world knows that when the riots broke out, it was Gujarat Chief Minister Mr Narendra Modi who had sought police force from neighbouring States to help Gujarat police to put out the terrible riots. That appeal for help was not responded to by any neighbouring State. Just recently, the Supreme Court of India also stated that Mr. Modi was not connected with Gujarat riots.

Despite this, the so-called fair-minded BBC ran the documentary maligning Mr. Modi’s name, a British MP also raised the issue in Parliament. And, the Supreme Court also received a petition as regards the Gujarat riots -- once again just a couple of days ago. Obviously, all these developments are not coincidental, to say the least. They appear to be part of a larger conspiracy not just to malign Prime Minister Mr Narendra Modi but also India as a whole.

All those elements that are trying to kick up an already settled issue involving Mr. Modi’s name -- obviously with a political agenda. Shame on all such elements.

The temerity of all these elements is just shocking. They have a criminal courage to raise a dead issue again and again and keep it alive somehow. They also have loyalty to their hidden masters whose political goal its is to defeat Mr. Modi somehow in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It appears to be their last-ditch effort.

The most critical aspect of all such attempts to malign the image of Mr. Narendra Modi is that a whole range of antagonistic elements considers him as their Enemy Number One. For, it is he who has defeated all their designs in the past 20 years. It is him who has thrown them out of power in different elections. It is him who showed how a determined person can emerge victorious against all odds and concerted efforts to put him down.

Yet, when an agency like the BBC shows a documentary aimed at serving a clear political purpose, it blackens its image. The BBC has often prided itself to be a fair-minded, balanced media entity running not just global radio but also television networks with remarkable efficiency. But those who have known what the BBC actually is also know that it is an agenda-network, meaning it serves particular political agenda as a handmaiden of some elements with suspect intents.

Those in the media also know the overall image of the BBC. They know that the words ‘This is BBC London’ may have woven a cultural fabric of its own, but that culture has enough crassness to talk about. International media researchers often say, in effect, that the British Parliament has slated the BBC as a completely independent network. Despite this so-called independence, the BBC has seldom used that independence for the larger good. No doubt, the BBC is a well known British organisation with a distinct way of doing things. Yet, all that cultural, monetary and professional advantage is known to have been used as an instrument to serve a particular agenda that changes its nature and form as per the need of the moment.

The slamming of the BBC by the Government of India, thus, may be just the best way to prove how hollow the BBC is.