Going his own way.

History of prejudices: Congress veteran’s son slams BBC docu on PM Modi

AK Antony son's remarks goes against stand taken by the Grand Old Party

Prashun Bhaumik | New Delhi | 24 January, 2023 | 11:20 PM

Anil K Antony's remark comes at a time when different wings of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) have announced that the BBC documentary will be screened in different parts of the state.

As the Congress continues to attack Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a BBC documentary on him, one of its leaders has an entirely different take on the controversy. Besides being the digital communications convenor of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee, the leader is the son of a Congress veteran.

Anil K Antony, the son of former defence minister AK Antony has hit out at the BBC, calling it a state sponsored channel with a long history of prejudices against India. Here’s what he tweeted:

His remarks come at a time when various units of Kerala unit of Congress have declared that the documentary will be screened in different parts of the state. KPCC minority cell chairman, advocate Shihabuddin Karyat, in a statement said that the documentary would be screened in district headquarters of the party on Republic Day in view of the undeclared ban on it in the country.

Anil Antony’s remarks are entirely different from the stand taken by the Grand Old Party. Earlier, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi spoke on the documentary on the events which transpired during the 2002 Gujarat riots when Modi was the chief minister. “The government can ban the documentary, but the truth is the truth. Thousands of crores are being spent to tarnish my image. But the truth always comes out”.

More than 50 tweets have been taken down after the Centre ordered the removal of posts and YouTube videos which shared the first episode of the two-part documentary series India: The Modi Question. The Ministry of External Affairs has already taken a tough stance on the documentary, calling it a ‘propaganda piece’. The Congress and other opposition leaders had hit out at the Centre over the crackdown on the documentary, calling it censorship.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh had tweeted,” PM and his drumbeaters assert that the new BBC documentary on him is slanderous. Censorship has been imposed. Then why did PM Vajpayee want his exit in 2002, only to be pressurised not to insist by the threat of resignation by Advani? Why did Vajpayee remind him of his rajdharma?”

Courtesy Hindustan Times