Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday attended a screening of the film, The Sabarmati Report, in Balyogi Auditorium of the Parliament House, along with home minister Amit Shah, defence minister Rajnath Singh and health minister JP Nadda, along with senior BJP MPs.
The screening, organized by the ministry of information and broadcasting, was followed by a dinner, an invitation from the information and broadcasting minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said.
Following the screening, PM Modi said in a post on X, “Joined fellow NDA MPs at a screening of ‘The Sabarmati Report.’ I commend the makers of the film for their effort.”
The film claims to reveal the truth behind the fire incident in Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, 2002, killing 59 devotees returning from Ayodhya after participating in a religious ceremony, which triggered communal riots in Gujarat. Modi was the chief minister of the state at the time of the incident.
Also read: ‘It’s disturbing that films like Gadar 2, The Kashmir Files are so massively popular, it is harmful’
Several opposition MPs chose to give Monday’s screening a miss.
“It is problematic that the Prime Minister comes to attend the screening of a propaganda movie after the Parliament session is adjourned, and a movie which is on a subject where a lot of allegations had been made against him,” Saket Gokhale, TMC Rajya Sabha MP, said.
“He can come to attend the screening of a propaganda movie but not attend the Parliament sessions… Is Parliament a place to answer to the people or a cinema hall?” he said.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari, who was the I&B minister from 2012-2014, said that during his tenure, he did not recall any movies being screened in the Parliament for MPs.
Also read: Vikrant Massey avoids questions about early retirement from films at The Sabarmati Report Parliament screening
“MIB used to screen movies in the Mahadev auditorium [Film Division Auditorium] for critics. Some MPs would come. They used to have a regular screening schedule, from what I remember. It became a longstanding tradition since this auditorium was set up. But we did not hold any screenings in the Parliament complex to my recollection, at least not in my time,” he said.
To be sure, this is not the first time that a movie was screened within the Parliament. In August 2022, “Rocketry: The Nambi Effect”, was screened in the old Parliament building and the screening was attended by then I&B minister Anurag Thakur and Nadda.
Leave a Comment