Amnesty continues with its agenda; screens BBC documentary in Canberra coinciding with Modi's Australia visit

New Delhi: Amnesty International, which is being investigated by Indian law enforcement agencies for alleged violation of the Foreign Contributions Regulation Act (FCRA), is organising a screening of the BBC documentary on PM Modi in the Australian city of Canberra on May 24.

The organisers including Hindus for Human Rights Australia & New Zealand, Muslim Collective, Periyar Ambedkar Thoughts Circle-Australia and The Humanism Project besides Amnesty, have hired a part of Australia's Parliament House in Canberra for the event. 

Also read: Does part-2 of BBC documentary on PM Modi establish Amnesty’s agenda?

The screening of the documentary will coincide with the Indian prime minister's three-day visit to Australia beginning on Monday.

Besides a bilateral engagement with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and meetings with the business community, he will attend a mega community event along with Albanese the following day in Sydney.

Click here for the details of the event.

Amnesty International India chair Aakar Patel, who appeared in the documentary, is one of the speakers at a panel discussion following the screening that will focus on the Gujarat riots as well as India under Modi's watch since 2014. 

The other speaker on the panel is Aakashi Bhatt, daughter of jailed Gujarat police officer Sanjiv Bhatt who had spoken out against Modi.

It is worth noting that Amnesty has been on the Modi government’s radar for its alleged 'anti-India activities' for quite a long time.

In April 2022, the Centre gave the go-ahead to the CBI to prosecute Amnesty International India and its former chief Aakar Patel for alleged violations of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), paving way for a special court to take cognisance of its charge sheet filed on December 31, 2021.

Following the charge sheet, the agency issued a Look Out Circular against Amnesty International India Chair Patel on the basis of which he was stopped from leaving Bengaluru Airport for the US where he was scheduled to deliver academic lectures in various universities.  

A magistrate court had allowed the withdrawal of the LOC but the order was overturned last Friday by a Special Judge who had asked Patel to not leave the country without its permission.  

The case was registered against Amnesty International India Pvt Ltd (AIIPL), Indians For Amnesty International Trust (IAIT), Amnesty International India Foundation Trust (AIIFT), Amnesty International South Asia Foundation (AISAF) and others in November 2019.

After the searches that took place post-FIR, Amnesty International India alleged that over the past year, a pattern of "harassment" has emerged every time Amnesty International India stands up and speaks out against "human rights violations" in India.

As things stand today, Aakar Patel can be found trolling the Modi government on Twitter every now and then.