Another Indian propaganda film targets Muslims - this time from Kerala

After The Kashmir Files, another Bollywood propaganda film has been making headlines across the border. The Kerala Story claims to tell the story of "three young girls from different parts of Kerala, who have been systematically converted, radicalised and their lives destroyed" as per its description.

The absurdness of the trailer

In a three-minute-long trailer, we are introduced to three Hindu women from Kerala, who apparently were 'brainwashed' by their Muslim roommate, and went on to join the militant Islamic State. Helmed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story couldn't be farther from the truth, several Indian media outlets and politicians said. The film has also been slammed by the state govt, critics, Indian media and many social media users.

It is produced by Vipul Amrutul Shah. The film stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani.

Kerala govt and Indian politicians call out the film

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has already expressed his disapproval of Sen's Kerala Story. According to Hindustan Times, Tharoor was countered by his old post where he claimed that he was approached by three Kerala mothers who feared their daughters were radicalised.

As Tharoor faced questions as to why he has objections to the movie based on the same subject, the Indian politician said he was aware of four cases which are a far cry from the 32,000 that the Kerala Story makers claimed. "Many are spreading this 2021 tweet of mine as if it undermines my present objections to the trailer & publicity for "The Kerala Story". Yes, I was approached then by three Kerala mothers and was aware of a fourth, and I was open about my concerns about their daughters' radicalisation," he said.

"But four cases are a far cry from the 32,000 that the filmmakers are alleging. If there really were so many Islamic State female members from Kerala, that would mean double the number when you count their husbands, whereas even Western intelligence sources say the number of all Indians in the Islamic State does not approach three figures. This gross exaggeration and distortion of the Kerala reality is what I am objecting to," Tharoor commented.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the movie is to further India's ruling party's propaganda [against Muslims]. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Vijayan said that the purpose of the film was to demonise Kerala and to divide the state along racial lines.

Court moved against the film

The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a plea seeking a stay on the release of the movie on grounds that it's a "worst kind of hate speech” and an “audio-visual propaganda”, reported The Indian Express.

The apex court's bench, comprising Justices KM Joseph and BV Nagarathna, was told by senior advocate Kapil Sibal and advocate Nizam Pasha that the trailer of the movie, which is scheduled to be released on Friday, has garnered 16 million views. Pasha said, "This movie is the worst kind of hate speech. It is completely audio-visual propaganda".

The bench, in response to the plea, said, “There are varieties of hate speeches. This film has got certification and has been cleared by the board. It's not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving an uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the release of the movie, you should challenge the certification and through the appropriate forum”.

The plea which was filed said, “The movie is clearly aimed at spreading hatred and enmity between different sections of society in India. The message the movie imparts is that non-Muslim young women are being lured into converting to Islam by their classmates and subsequently, they are trafficked to West Asia where they are forced to join terrorist organisations.”

The plea added, “The movie demeans the entire Muslim community and it will result in endangering the lives and livelihoods of the petitioners and the entire Muslim community, and this is a direct infringement under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.”

“The movie gives the impression that apart from extremist clerics who radicalise people, ordinary Muslim youngsters, their classmates, also play an instrumental role in luring non-Muslims and radicalising them by posing as friendly and good-natured people, in accordance with instructions given by extremist scholars,” said the plea.

“The movie promotes the view that love-jihad is being used to lure non-Muslim women into converting to Islam and also joining Islamic State. However, an investigation by the state police carried out in 2009 revealed that there was no evidence of love-jihad in Kerala.”

Discrediting the story

Consequently, the makers of the movie updated the description on YouTube and changed '32,000 women' to 'three women'. Earlier, the description said the movie is about the "heartbreaking and gut-wrenching stories of 32,000 females in Kerala'. Now it says, "A spine-chilling, never told before the true story - revealing a dangerous conspiracy that has been hatched against India. The Kerala Story is a compilation of the true stories of three young girls from different parts of Kerala."

On the change of the description of the movie, Film's producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah told PTI that the film is about three women, though the makers stand by the number of 32,000.

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