The university administration said on its website that it had not given permission for the demonstration.
This is to emphasize that such unauthorized activity may disturb the peace and harmony of the University campus.
“The students/individuals concerned are strongly advised to cancel the proposed program immediately, failing which strict disciplinary action may be initiated as per University rules.”
On Twitter, the union’s president Aishe Ghosh asked students to attend the screening of the documentary, calling it “banned” by the “elected government” of the largest “democracy”.
Asked by Reuters whether the union plans to go ahead with the screening, Ghosh replied, “Yes, we are.”
However, he declined to comment on the threat of disciplinary action by the university.
A Delhi Police official monitoring the area around JNU said that the police is closely monitoring the situation. But police in the capital declined to make any official comment.
The documentary is also scheduled to be screened on some campuses in the communist-ruled southern state of Kerala.
India’s home ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the government’s plans to screen the film at JNU and in Kerala.
In the 2002 Gujarat violence, a train carrying Hindu pilgrims was set on fire, killing 59 people. The mob later ransacked Muslim areas. In 2017, 11 people were sentenced to life imprisonment for setting fire to the train.
Modi has denied allegations that he did not do enough to prevent the riots and was exonerated in 2012 after a Supreme Court-supervised investigation. Another petition questioning his release was rejected last year.
Last week, the BBC said the documentary was “rigorously researched” and included a “wide range” of voices and views, including reactions from people in Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the threat of disciplinary action.