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“BBC should not have made the documentary on the first place”

Days after controversy broke out over the airing and banning of “India’s Daughter - A Documentary”, based on the December 16 gang-rape in Delhi, the Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday criticised British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC Four) for airing the documentary.

“BBC should not have made the documentary on the first place”, he said.

After conferring Kittur Rani Chennamma Awards for six organisations and 18 women under various categories on the occasion of International Women’s Day here, Mr. Siddaramaiah said, “it is not right on part of BBC to malign the character and esteem of the victim of the incident”.

“Every one has the right to freedom of opinion and expression. But that right should not be exercised at the cost hurting feelings of others”, he noted.

He did not mince words to criticise controversial statements made by Defence counsel for the accused, M.L. Sharma and A.P. Singh. “Bar Council of India (BCI) had issued notice to two lawyers for their outrageous comments about women in the documentary”, he observed.

Mr. Siddaramaiah also said that, the Congress government in the state is committed to protect the interest of women and Special Treatment Unit for Women had been set in all the districts with an objective of providing help to victims of sexual harassment. The government was extending every kind of support, including legal assistance, he added.

Detailing the schemes envisaged and implemented by the government to protect the interests of women, Mr. Siddaramaiah batted strongly for gender equality in the society. “Though the principle of gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution in its preamble, gender equality still is a distant dream for women in the country. It is time for them to unite and fight for their rights”, he said.

India’s Daughter a hit on YouTube

The “banned’’ documentary India’s Daughter remained accessible in the country on various online video-sharing platforms, including YouTube, for the third consecutive day on Saturday.

Reports from overseas suggested that the BBC, citing copyright issues, had asked Google to withdraw the documentary from YouTube across the globe.

In India, the documentary continued to be viewed with considerable interest. One YouTube link had registered 47,789 views at 4.03 p.m. Half-an-hour later, the number of views of the same link stood at 49,956. A separate link to the same film had registered 99,187 views at 7.47 p.m.

The film will be screened again on BBC Four at 10 p.m. on Sunday, again exclusively for the U.K. audience. Before the controversy broke out last Tuesday, the documentary was scheduled to be released in India and some other countries on Sunday to coincide with International Women’s Day.

Court injunction

As the government swung into action on Tuesday and secured a court injunction on the screening of the film across media platforms in India, the BBC advanced the screening to Wednesday night. The film was available on YouTube by the following morning across the world.

Though Google India did take down YouTube links to the film that were sent to it by the government for removal, the exercise turned into a cat-and-mouse game as people across the world, including the Indian diaspora, shared the documentary on every video-sharing platform available, rendering the ban ineffective in India.