Tripti Nath/ New Delhi

Lord Rami Ranger, a member of the House of Lords of the U.K. Parliament, has described as “ sinister” the timing of the BBC documentary on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I urge you to stop screening the second part to avoid exasperating the already tense situation between British Hindus and Muslims in many of our cities,’’ Lord Ranger has written in a letter addressed to Tim Davis, Director General of the BBC.

The nine paragraph letter reads, “The timing of this documentary is sinister; when India assumed the Presidency of G20, we have our first Prime Minister of Indian origin in No.10, and we are working for the UK-India free-trade agreement.’’

Lord Rami says in the letter that he is appalled by the documentary produced by the BBC implicating the “Hon. Prime Minister of India in the Gujarat riots of 2002, aired on 17^th January 2023. “ The producer has shown a lack of vision, common sense and judgement by producing such an insensitive one-sided documentary.’’

He goes on to say that the documentary not only insults the two times democratically elected Prime Minister of the largest democracy in the world but also the judiciary and Parliament, which investigated Mr Modi rigorously, and exonerated him from being involved in the riots in any way.

Lord Rami says, “ As the Chairman of the Pakistan-Indian and UK Friendship Forum, we have worked for over 25 years to build bridges between two British communities, namely of Indian and Pakistani origin, to improve social cohesion in the United Kingdom.’’

The member of the House of Lords writes in the letter that the BBC documentary has opened old wounds by creating hatred between British Hindus and Muslims by attempting to paint India as an intolerant nation where Muslims are persecuted.

Lord Rami says, “ If this were the case, Muslims would have left India by now. On the contrary, the Muslim population of India now more than Pakistan’s, and the Muslims of Bangladesh are entering India on a large scale.’’

Lord Rami' Ranger's letter to BBC

The letter reads, “ It is worth remembering the history; the British divided us arbitrarily without any referendum and caused the death of over a million innocent people and made over 15 million refugees in the country of their birth. The British generated such hatred that led to three more bloody wars with more loss of life, and now India and Pakistan are nuclear adversaries.”

Lord Rami writes in the letter “For the record, diversity is accepted, respected and protected by laws in India. The Indian Constitution accords equality to all regardless of race, religion and gender. I cannot say the same for Pakistan, where equality is not accorded to people of other faiths or women.’’

He goes to the extent of asking the BBC Director General, “ Kindly confirm if your Pakistani origin staff were behind this nonsense.’’

Lord Rami pointedly asks the Director General of the BBC, “Should you not make a documentary to take responsibility for the bloodshed that continues unabated? How about the famine in Bengal and the massacre of innocent people in Jallianwala Bagh?”

The Baron of Mayfair, Lord Ranger writes, “ I condemn violence and loss of life wherever it takes place, and I equally condemn those stirring up religious hatred in the United Kingdom by bringing up the politics of the subcontinent to the United Kingdom.’’

Lord Rami says, “ We have one King and Country, and, as a result, are one. No one has the right to divide us for cheap popularity with egregious journalism, which can have dire consequences for the nation in the long run.’’

He signs off the letter with the expectation of a reply.