'Shame': Shashi Tharoor criticizes DU action to suspend 2 students for screening BBC documentary

New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, has strongly condemned Delhi university’s decision to suspend two out of the eight students who were found to be involved in the screening of the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the university campus on January 27.

On 10th March, two students – Lokesh Chugh who is a Ph.D. scholar and an NSUI student leader along with Ravinder from the law faculty received a “confidential” memorandum from DU– informing them about being barred for a year. Accordingly, the students will not be allowed to any university, college, or departmental exams for one year.

Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday tweeted “As a @Delhiuniversit alum committed to academic freedom & independence of thought, I am appalled by this shocking decision. To suspend a student for two years for watching a documentary in a democracy is a disgrace & a betrayal of everything a university should stand for. Shame!”

The screening of the controversial documentary on the Gujarat riots -- India: The Modi Question, was organized by student groups such as the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and the Bhim Army Student Federation (BASF).

The university had formed a committee to probe the incident and recommended punishment for eight students. Two of the eight have been suspended for a year and the rest gave been given less strict punishment.

The BJP government at the Centre has strongly criticized the BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots for which he has been given a clean chit by the Supreme Court of India.

Calling it “propaganda to defame India”, the Centre has banned the screening of the controversial BBC documentary anywhere in the country. However, the documentary has been screened at several universities in some states despite the ban.