INDIAN Prime Minister Narendra Modi has blocked the airing of a BBC documentary which questioned his role during the 2002 Gujarat riots.

The Indian government insisted on Sunday that even sharing clips from the documentary on social media is banned.

The instructions to block the clips were issued by the government using emergency powers under the country’s information technology rules, government adviser Kanchan Gupta tweeted.

The government told Twitter to block over 50 tweets linking to the video of the documentary and YouTube has been instructed to block any uploads of the video, Mr Gupta said.

Mr Modi was chief minister of the western state of Gujarat when it was gripped by communal riots that left more than 1,000 people dead, most of them Muslims. 

The violence erupted after a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set alight, killing 59.

Mr Modi has long denied accusations that he helped incite the rioting. A special investigation team appointed by the Supreme Court reported in 2012 that it could find no evidence to prosecute Mr Modi.

But activists and officials who campaigned for justice for riot victims faced legal cases and, in some cases, jail time for their efforts.