In recent days, the government has asked Twitter and YouTube to remove links and video clips from the film, local media reports. And some universities are trying to prevent students from showing the film.

India’s foreign ministry said last week that the film was propaganda and had a “colonial attitude”. According to the BBC, the Indian government had previously declined to comment.

Modi’s role in the 2002 riots

The first part of the film, which was recently released in England, is about Modi’s role during the 2002 riots in the state of Gujarat, when Modi was the head of government there. More than a thousand people died in the riots. The film speaks to those affected, activists and journalists from the past who say the authorities didn’t intervene properly. There have been accusations like this before.

Planned screening: Police arrest students

At a university in the capital New Delhi, students were arrested by police on Wednesday before a planned screening of the film, television station NDTV reported. And the night before, the students accused the management of another Delhi university of turning off the electricity and internet on campus before a performance that had been planned but not yet approved by the university. The students then watched the film on their laptops and cell phones.

Criticism of restrictions on press freedom

Opposition politicians and human rights groups have described the government’s actions as curtailing press freedom. In Reporters Without Borders’ rankings, India has slipped several places in recent years – most recently to 150th out of 180.