Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Sunday slammed the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’, saying they were taking on the Sangh Parivar’s propaganda of projecting the state as a center of religious extremism by raising the issue of ‘love jihad’, a concept he rejected. courts, investigative agencies and the Home Office.
Vijayan also said that the trailer of the Hindi film on the face of it appears to be “deliberately crafted” with the alleged aim of creating communal polarization and spreading hate propaganda against the state. He said that though the issue of ‘love jihad’ was rejected by the investigating agencies, courts and MHA, it was raised in connection with Kerala as the main premise of the film only to humiliate the state in front of the world.
In a statement, the Chief Minister said such propaganda films and the alienation of Muslims depicted in them should be seen in the context of the Sangh Parivar’s efforts to gain political advantage in Kerala. He also accused the Sangh Parivar of trying to destroy religious harmony in the state by “sowing poisonous seeds of communalism”.
BJP questioned how claims of strong religious terrorism in Kerala
The BJP questioned how claims of strong religious terrorism in Kerala could be interpreted as hate propaganda against the state. BJP president K Surendran claimed that it was former state police chief Loknath Behra, who was said to be close to the Left party, who said the presence of terrorist forces was strong in Kerala.
The Kerala CM and the ruling CPI(M) also called it a “double standard” that freedom of speech and expression cannot be a justification for using cinema to spread sectarianism in the state and create discord. “Freedom of speech is not a license to spread lies, communalise society and divide people,” the Chief Minister said today. Surendran said the Chief Minister and CPI(M) leaders, acting as “apostolic expressions”, were saying that the film “The Kerala Story” should not be screened.
However, it was about freedom of expression when believers reacted against the film ‘Isho’ or when Christians were allegedly insulted in the play ‘Kakkukali’ and also in connection with the novel ‘Meesha’ and the exhibition of paintings by MF Hussain, Surendran argued.
On the other hand, the Left did not see freedom of speech in the case of the questionnaire prepared by Professor TJ Joseph – whose hand was chopped off for allegedly insulting Prophet Muhammad in a test – or the play ‘Kitab’ or the film ‘Kashmir Files’, Surendran claimed. He claimed that the reason for this double standard is that the CPI(M) does not want anything that exposes terrorism.
Surendran alleged that it was because of such selective responses by the Chief Minister and the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly that there was a situation where alleged “Jihadists” were coming to Kerala to carry out terrorist acts in the country.
Vijayan claimed that since the Sangh Parivar’s divisive politics was not working in Kerala as it was in other places, it was trying to spread it through a film based on “fake stories”, unsupported by any fact or evidence.
“In the trailer of the film, we see a hoax that 32,000 women in Kerala converted and became members of the Islamic State. This fake story is a product of the Sangh Parivar lie factory,” the CM said in his statement.
He also warned of legal action against anti-social activity. A few days ago, both the ruling CPI(M) in Kerala and the opposition Congress attacked the controversial upcoming film ‘The Kerala Story’, saying freedom of expression was not a license to spew venom in the society and the film was an attempt to destroy the communal harmony of the state.
The Congress urged the government not to allow the screening of the controversial film as it aimed to create “communal division in society through false claims”. The Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram shared the film’s poster on Twitter: “This can be ‘your’ Kerala story. It is not ‘our’ Kerala story.”
The Kerala Story revealing reality of Kerala
Adah Sharma starrer ‘The Kerala Story’ is slated to hit theaters on May 5. Written and directed by Sudipto Sen, the film is portrayed as “revealing” the events behind “approximately 32,000 women” who have reportedly disappeared in the south of the country. State. The film falsely claims that they converted, radicalized and were deployed in terrorist missions in India and the world.
Written by: Vaishali verma
