The Congress in Kerala has urged not to give screening permission for the movie 'The Kerala Story. Opposition Leader VD Satheesan in a statement said the movie tells a blatant lie that 32,000 women in Kerala were converted and made members of the Islamic State (ISIS). The movie is set to be released on May 5 and the trailer is out. The film, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, has become controversial for its claim that 32,000 women from Kerala were forcibly converted and allegedly recruited to the militant outfit ISIS.
VD Satheesan said, "This is not a question of freedom of expression, but part of the Sangh Parivar's attempt to create communalism and division in the society by putting the minority communities under shadow. The trailer communicates what the movie's theme is. What director Sudipto Sen had told the media about the content of the movie is there before the society. It is clear that through the movie, it is intended to insult and defame Kerala at the international level. This is part of the agenda to grow communalism, the seeds of which were sown by Modi. Kerala will unitedly oppose the deliberate move to grow religious enmity.”
"The root of the utmost precarious move to divide people on the basis of religion should be cut off. Sangh Parivar won't ever understand the meaning of humanity. It should not be thought that Kerala can be divided with the poison of fundamentalism,” Satheesan added.
Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the ruling CPI(M), has said that it is highly objectionable to portray the state in a bad light through the movie and stern action should be taken against it. “Ït has been long since the Sangh Parivar began attempts to establish Kerala as a center of religious fundamentalism and to develop a public opinion against the state at the national level.”
“The Indian Union consists of Kerala too. Sangh Parivar, however, has been viewing the state with the same attitude as towards an enemy country. A popular medium like cinema is used to spread communalism and to nurture hatred by humiliating a community (Muslims) as a whole. It is the Sangh Parivar agenda of creating vote banks through communal hatred that is being executed in the country. Stern action should be taken against the movie,” DYFI added.