'Truth shines bright, has nasty habit of...': Rahul Gandhi on BBC documentary on Modi

Amid a row over the controversial BBC documentary on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the 2002 Gujarat riots, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said any kind of ban, oppression and frightening people are not going to stop the truth from coming out.

The government on Friday had directed social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to block links to the documentary titled "India: The Modi Question".

The Ministry of External Affairs has criticised the documentary as a "propaganda piece" that lacks objectivity and reflects a colonial mindset.

Asked about the issue at a press conference during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said, "If you read our scriptures, if you read Bhagavad Gita or you read the Upanishads, you will see in it, it is written that the truth cannot be hidden. The truth always comes out." "So, you can ban, you can suppress the press, you can control the institutions, you can use CBI, ED all the stuff, but, the truth is the truth. Truth shines bright. It has a nasty habit of coming out. So, no amount of banning, oppression and frightening people is going to stop the truth from coming out," he said.

The Congress on Saturday had criticised the government for the "censorship" of the BBC documentary, asking why had then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reminded Modi of 'raj dharma' after the 2002 Gujarat riots.