Thiruvananthapuram: Culture Minister Saji Cherian demanded a boycott of “Kerala Story” on Friday, claiming that it incites sectarian violence in the state. The Minister claimed that the film was an RSS plot to further communalize life in Kerala.
After the announcement of “The Kerala Story” and the subsequent release of a trailer, a heated debate has developed. The movie’s trailer was Thursday’s No. 2 most-viewed video on YouTube. Cherian claims that the move are afoot to make Kerala a place where people of different faiths can live in peace and harmony. The film highlights specific examples of how ISIS used ‘love jihad’ to recruit 32,000 women to fight in Syria. This preview demonstrates how ISIS and other Islamic extremist groups successfully recruited Hindu and Christian women from Kerala under the guise of romantic interest. The shocking incidents took place in 2018 and 2019, a time when an increasing number of young people in Kerala were being radicalized by ISIS.
Opposition leader V D Satheesan has made similar calls for “The Kerala Story” to be banned. In the film, it is falsely asserted that 32,000 women in Kerala converted to Islam and joined ISIS. Satheesan argued that the film should not be allowed to be released in Kerala because the Sangh Parivar’s goal is to undermine minority groups, sow sectarianism, and divide society.
Director Sudipto Sen was criticised by Muslim Youth League General Secretary PK Firos, who called the film “RSS-sponsored cinema” on Thursday. He claimed that the trailer for the film falsely suggests that Muslims in Kerala, India are using politics to establish an Islamic state. The claim that love jihad exists in Kerala has been disproven even by the country’s highest court.
On April 26th, 2023, Sudipto Sen’s “The Kerala Story” trailer hit the web. The film is inspired by true stories of Hindu and Christian women in Kerala who were radicalised by local Islamists and sent to fight for ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
The Kerala Story” will premiere in four languages—Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam—on May 5, 2023.
The film, produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani.
