The Sabarmati Report: Did Shiv Sena boycott Vikrant Massey's film screening in parliament? Here's what we know

On Monday, parliament had a special screening of Vikrant Massey's The Sabarmati Report. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his cabinet colleagues, attended the screening of the film that purports to show the truth about the fire event aboard the Sabarmati Express in Godhra on February 27, 2002.

Richa Barua

First Published Dec 3, 2024, 12:12 PM IST | Last Updated Dec 3, 2024, 12:12 PM IST

On Monday, December 2, Parliament hosted a special Vikrant Massey's The Sabarmati Report screening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, along with his party and cabinet colleagues, attended the screening. The film purports to show the truth behind the fire aboard the Sabarmati Express at Godhra on February 27, 2002, which occurred while PM Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

Amid the standoff over who would be the next Maharashtra Chief Minister and aggressive posturing by Shiv Sena leaders for Eknath Shinde's continuance as Chief Minister, reports circulated that his party MPs would boycott the film's showing on Monday at Balyogi Auditorium in the Parliament Library Building. However, it has recently been discovered that this is not true.

Also, Eknath Shinde is not playing hardball when it comes to the CM seat. He officially said last week that the BJP would decide who should be the CM and that he would comply with whatever PM Modi and the party's senior leadership decide. Though there have been widespread rumours that he is dissatisfied with the current political situation in Maharashtra, it does not appear that he would instruct his parliamentarians to boycott such events.

No truth in Shiv Sena boycotting screening of #SabarmatiReport as being stated by some media- @milinddeora and many other MPs present
— 🦏 Payal M/પાયલ મેહતા/ पायल मेहता/ পাযেল মেহতা (@payalmehta100) December 2, 2024

Eknath Shinde, Maharashtra's interim Chief Minister, had been suffering from a fever and a throat infection for several days and was rehabilitating in his native village in Satara district, Maharashtra, before travelling to Mumbai. Before falling unwell, he travelled to Delhi to meet with BJP leaders. Because he was at his hometown, the Mahayuti conference scheduled for Mumbai to discuss the establishment of the Maharashtra government had to be postponed.

In addition to NDA officials, alliance partners have been invited to attend the screening of The Sabarmati Report.

Attended the screening of the extraordinary film 'The Sabarmati Report' alongside Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi Ji, Union Ministers, and fellow NDA MPs.

Commend the filmmakers for their remarkable effort in capturing a powerful narrative with precision and… pic.twitter.com/Bj5Pg9pYWf
— Nitin Gadkari (@nitin_gadkari) December 2, 2024

Shiv Sena's Milind Deora and other LS MPs attend

Milind Deora, Rajya Sabha MP for the Shiv Sena, and a few other Lok Sabha MPs from the party were among those screened. Union Minister Nityanand Rai, BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj, and Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi were also spotted entering Parliament to view the film 'The Sabarmati Report'. The first people to arrive were Union Minister Rajnath Singh and Home Minister Amit Shah.

Pride and gratitude beyond words! A heartfelt thank you to Hon’ble PM @narendramodi Ji for attending the screening of #TheSabarmatiReport. Truly humbled 🙏 pic.twitter.com/2sC21JsHvY
— Ektaa R Kapoor (@EktaaRKapoor) December 2, 2024

I am really happy: Vikrant Massey

Actor Vikrant Massey thanked Prime Minister Modi for viewing the film, saying he was overjoyed yet unable to articulate the entire experience. "I watched the film with Prime Minister and all cabinet ministers and many MPs. It was a special experience. I will still not be able to express it in words because I am so happy... This is the highest point of my career, that I got to watch my film with the Prime Minister," he was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

When Prime Minister Modi praised the Sabarmati Report

On November 18, the PM praised The Sabarmati Report for its efforts to unearth the truth. Responding to an X user who tagged him in the film's teaser, the Prime Minister thanked the film for highlighting the circumstances surrounding the 2002 Godhra train disaster.

At the time of the train burning, PM Modi, Gujarat's Chief Minister commented, "Well said. It is good that this truth is coming out, and that too in a way common people can see it. A fake narrative can persist only for a limited period of time. Eventually, the facts will always come out."

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