Close on the heels of it going through extreme criticism over a documentary on the 2002 Godhra riots, the BBC is going through a backlash at house over a programme seen to be “sympathetic” to ‘jihadi bride’ Shamima Begum. Viewers are threatening that they will not be renewing their subscriptions.
By Anuja Jha: Shamima Begum was an nameless teenager dwelling within the United Kingdom until she took the choice to affix the Islamic State again in 2015. She was solely 15 on the time and her case definitely received worldwide consideration, particularly her struggle to return house after her experiences disabused her of any fantasy about Syria and the terrorist outfit IS. And now, eight years later, the “jihadi bride”, now 23, is again within the information. This time, because of the BBC’s ‘The Shamima Begum Story’.
The BBC has launched a 90-minute documentary on Shamima Begum. The documentary got here after the BBC’s 10-part podcast ‘I’m Not a Monster’ that ‘retraces’ Begum’s journey, in accordance with a report by The Daily Mail.
The “sympathetic” depiction of the ‘jihadi bride”, who has been “remorseless” over her joining the IS terror group, has left viewers fuming in the UK. The trouble for the British broadcaster on its home soil comes close on the heels of it facing severe backlash in India over a documentary on the 2002 Godhra riots.
Viewers in the UK are threatening that they won’t renew their BBC subscriptions. “What is happening with the BBC? Are you kidding me? Won’t ever pay my TV licence again… She’s a terrorist with no remorse, she doesn’t deserve to have her story heard like she is a victim,” tweeted a viewer.
A QUICK RECAP OF BEGUM’S STORY
For those not in the know, Shamima Begum, along with two of her friends, Kadiza Sultana and Amira Abase, fled the UK and travelled to Syria in February 2015. Begum’s two friends are believed to have been killed, while she herself lived under IS rule for more than three years. Later, she became popular an “IS bride” as a result of she was married to a Dutch IS fighter quickly after reaching Syria.
A CCTV picture reveals (L-R) Kadiza Sultana, Amira Abase and Shamima Begum passing via safety limitations at Gatwick Airport, south of London, on February 17, 2015. (AFP picture)
After she fled Britain, Begum, who was born within the UK to oldsters with Bangladeshi roots, was stripped of her UK citizenship on nationwide safety grounds in 2019. And for the previous few years, Begum has been preventing to return to the UK.
But whereas the problem awaits court docket judgment, the BBC has launched podcasts and a 90-minute documentary on Shamima Begum.
BBC PODCAST, DOCUMENTARY ON BEGUM
The BBC claimed it could present Begum’s telling of “what really happened” when she grew to become a jihadi bride. The broadcaster described the podcast as a “robust, public interest investigation” by a journalist who had been speaking to Begum for a yr.
Begum, who now lives on the Al-Roj camp in northern Syria, advised the BBC that being caught in a camp was “worse than being in a prison”, including, “At least with prison sentences you know that there will be an end but here you don’t know if there’s going to be an end.”
When asked about the public anger towards her due to her IS links, Begum said, “I don’t think it’s actually towards me. I think it’s towards ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria)”. IS can also be know as ISIS.
“When they consider ISIS they consider me as a result of I’ve been placed on the media a lot, however what was there to obsess over?” Begum mentioned, including, “We went to ISIS, that was it. It was over, it was over and done with.”
But what the viewers definitely can’t neglect or let it’s “over and done with”, is how, in a number of interviews, Begum had confirmed completely no regret over her choice to affix IS.
In 2019, a BBC journalist reported that Shamima Begum “continued to espouse Islamic State philosophy” throughout an interview. When she spoke concerning the suicide bombing in Manchester in 2017, she admitted that innocents have been killed, however retorted that the assault was justified due to civilian deaths brought on by airstrikes in Syria.
The BBC documentary and podcasts, nevertheless, aimed to current an empathetic telling of Begum’s journey. Maybe to point out, because the podcast title claimed, that she was “not a monster”.
VIEWERS SLAM CELEBRITIFICATION OF BEGUM
The documentary has not gone down effectively with viewers within the UK, who’re bashing the general public broadcaster for “parading Begum as if she is some sort of celebrity”. The viewers slammed the BBC for making an attempt to current the jihadi bride as a “vulnerable young girl”.
“Please tell me why the BBC are giving Shamima Begum the time of day? That girl has zero remorse and I don’t know why I have to see her on my TV? She had a choice – she made her choice. Vile,” a critic was quoted as saying by The Daily Mail.
A viewer mentioned it was “sickening” to observe the documentary, whereas one other mentioned, “What is happening with the BBC? Are you kidding me? Won’t ever pay my TV licence again… She’s a terrorist with no remorse, she doesn’t deserve to have her story heard like she is a victim.”
The anger at “celebritification” of Begum prompted some viewers to vow that they’d not renew their license, which is the annual payment paid to observe BBC programmes.
Shamima Begum admits to becoming a member of a terror group, so why do the BBC (which you pay for) see match to show her into a star? Lest we neglect, she watched executions, and thought they have been proper. Why would anybody of their proper minds need her again in UK? #DefundTheBBC NOW! pic.twitter.com/sBly4yKzQj
— Francesca (@Francesca6556) February 8, 2023
“Disgusting and utterly disgraceful,” a critic mentioned quickly after the documentary aired. Viewers questioned why the BBC was giving airtime to “Shamima Begum, a terrorist by association”.
The BBC documentary comes at a time when the UK authorities has reiterated that Islamist terrorism stays the “primary terrorist threat” to the nation.
ANOTHER BBC DOCUMENTARY IN CONTROVERSY
This is the second BBC documentary prior to now one month that has acquired extreme public backlash. While the documentary on Begum is being slammed for broadcasters enjoying the pity card for the jihadi bride, a sequence on Prime Minister Narendra Modi was banned in India after the federal government accused it of being a “propaganda piece”.
The BBC documentary India: The Modi Question, which was launched final month, set off a large row within the nation. The broadcaster claimed it investigated sure features referring to the 2002 Gujarat riots when PM Modi was the chief minister of the state. However, the Ministry of External Affairs trashed the documentary as a “propaganda piece” that lacks objectivity and displays a colonial mindset.
The authorities directed social media platforms Twitter and YouTube to dam hyperlinks to the BBC documentary quickly after its launch.
ALSO READ | BBC is unbiased, we proceed ‘investing heavily’ in relationship with India, says UK
Published On:
Feb 10, 2023
