As the government faced the heat in both Houses of Parliament over the documentary featuring the December 16, 2012 gang-rape convict Mukesh, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured Parliament on Wednesday that the documentary would not be allowed to go on air.
MPs cutting across party lines spoke out against the documentary in both Houses. In the Rajya Sabha women members from the Opposition stormed the well, forcing an adjournment. The government claimed there appeared to be a conspiracy to defame India.
While the Government has secured a court injunction to stop the airing of the documentary across all media platforms in India, the Home Minister informed the Lok Sabha that efforts were on to prevent it from being aired anywhere in the world. Sources in the Home Ministry said instructions had been issued to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry and the broadcaster BBC to prevent the documentary from being aired.
However, The Guardian, quoting sources in the BBC, reported that the Corporation has decided to screen India’s Daughter on Wednesday night on BBC4, ahead of the scheduled broadcast on Sunday, International Women’s Day.
Intervening in both Houses, Mr. Singh said an inquiry had been initiated into how the film-makers were given access to a convict – “that, too, a rapist’’ — in the high-security Tihar Jail. “We will also find out under what provision the interview was allowed and fix responsibility.”
In a detailed statement in the Rajya Sabha, he said permission was granted to interview the convicts on the condition that the film would be released only after clearance from the authorities who would have to be shown the unedited footage.
