THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The pro-Left Students Federation of India (SFI) and other political organisations screened the contentious BBC documentary about the 2002 Gujarat riots on Tuesday while the BJP youth wing erupted in protest. The violence occurred when Prime Minister Narendra Modi presided over the western state.
Tuesday saw the screening of the BBC documentary "India: The Modi Question" in numerous areas of the state, which prompted protest marches by the BJP's Yuva Morcha.
In order to disperse Yuva Morcha protestors in the state capital of Kerala, where tensions were particularly high, police resorted to use water cannons and tear gas. At Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram, where the documentary was shown, Yuva Morcha supporters came as well. On Tuesday night, further screenings were held in a few institutions in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram.
Anil Antony, a prominent member of the Congress and the son of former Kerala CM AK Antony, spoke out against the documentary, bringing support for the BJP from an unexpected source. Yuva Morcha organised protest marches to the Victoria College in Palakkad and the Government Law College in Ernakulam, where SFI showed the video as promised.
Police intervened in both instances to eject the protesters and avert a confrontation. The Kerala CPI(M) government's youth arm, DYFI, said that it would show the documentary not just in Kerala but also in the rest of India.
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