Radical Desi organized the free screening of a BBC film which has created a sensation in India on Sunday, January 29 in Surrey, BC.

The two episodes of India: The Modi Question, remain out of bounds in the world’s so called largest democracy.

Not only has the right wing Hindu nationalist BJP government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi restricted its screening in India, dozens have been detained for making an attempt to show it in public space.

The documentary takes a critical look at the functioning of Modi, under whose rule attacks on religious minorities, especially Muslims, have grown ever since he was elected as the leader of India in 2014.

The Indian establishment got riled up following the relay of the first episode by BBC, exposing Modi’s complicity in the 2002 Muslim massacre in Gujarat. At the time, Modi was the Chief Minister of the coastal state, where thousands of Muslims were murdered after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims caught fire, leaving more than 50 passengers dead. Modi had blamed the incident on Muslims and allegedly instigated violence against the minority community.

The Indian government declared the documentary "propaganda", and its officials tried to muzzle the voices of those who promoted it on social media. Among them is the Surrey-based editor of weekly Chardikala Gurpreet, Singh Sahota, who shared his first-hand experience of being served a notice by Twitter at the behest of the Indian government.

Radical Desi, an online magazine that covers alternative politics, held the event to show solidarity with Sahota and others who are facing intimidation in India.

The screening was organized on the birthday of the slain Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was reportedly murdered by the Hindu supremacists for opposing the BJP in 2017. Lankesh had translated a book on the Gujarat violence authored by famous reporter Rana Ayyub in Kannada.

Progressive Punjabi poet Amrit Diwana read a poem dedicated to Lankesh at the beginning of the program, which started with a moment of silence in memory of the six worshippers who were killed in a hate crime in Quebec on January 29, 2017.

Radical Desi Director Gurpreet Singh pointed out that while Canadian politicians, particularly of Indian heritage, pay tributes to the victims of the Quebec violence; they have remained silent on the actions of an “Islamophobic government” in New Delhi.

The screening was followed by speeches and a question and answer session. Those who spoke on the occasion included anti-racism activist Imtiaz Popat, a Muslim of Gujarati heritage, as well as anti-racism educator Annie Ohana, human rights activist Sunil Kumar, and freelance writer Kanwal Gill.