Sudipto Sen’s directed movie ‘The Kerala Story’ has been in controversy even before its release. The movie’s plot follows the story of a group of women from Kerala who converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
The movie puts focus on the radicalization and forced conversion of women in the state. The court has refused to intervene in the matter amid protests and petitions against the movie.
The film reportedly says that, during the height of ISIS’s authority, some 32,000 women in Kerala were converted to Islam and many of them were transported to the country’s capital, Syria.
Recently a man in Jodhpur was assaulted for sharing the status of the movie The Kerala Story on WhatsApp. A 24-year-old man named Abhishek Sargara was also threatened to slit his throat. Abhishek is also associated with the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal. After watching it on Friday he applauded the movie and wrote that it is very good and should be watched by every girl in the world to remain safe from (Islamic) conversions.
The accused Pintu, Aman, and Ali stopped and questioned Abhishek when he approached the main road leading to Merti Gate at Kali Tanki. “Why did you post the status? Are you trying to defame our religion,” they charged. Members of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Bajrang Dal gathered at the Udai Mandir police station on Sunday, demanding that the attackers be apprehended.
Since the publication of the trailer, the film has been making headlines. Liberals, Muslims, and opposition parties, particularly the Left and the Congress, have strongly condemned the film and attempted to have it removed from theatres.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who reportedly had ordered BJP members to avoid making unnecessary movie comments, has come out in support of the film, which has been dubbed a propaganda film. Several others including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have called it a propaganda movie by Sangh Parivar. They are not based on facts.
Amidst all, a woman claims that the film depicts her real-life story. Shruti from Kasargod, who called the film accurate, claimed to be one of the victims who befriended Muslim ladies in college and converted to Islam. Shruti, a Brahmin woman, said in an interview with ABP news that she was persuaded into converting to Islam by her Muslim college buddies. Rahmat became her new name.
She said that they would influence her, and mock Hinduism, and Hindu festivals. She explained that they mentioned that boys and girls sit in separate sections and that the veil protects the girls and how they prioritized their religion and believed that Islam is the only true ideology. Shruti has written her autobiography called Story Of A Reversion: How I Converted To Islam And Returned To Sanatana Dharma, had earlier told a publication that she would still shudder to think of many things that she saw after she became Muslim by reciting the Kalima. She added that there were around 65 women who had come there for conversion. It included aged women, fully pregnant women, 16-17-year-old girls, and a woman with two daughters totaling 65.
The film’s’ teasers’ description was also changed
Adah Sharma took to Twitter on Saturday to lash out at critics who branded her film ‘The Kerala Story’ propaganda with no connection to truth. The actor advised them to Google ‘ISIS’ and ‘brides’ to learn about what white ladies had to through while being held captive by the Islamic State, claiming that their hardship would lead them to believe their story is true. Her remark occurred amid a nasty push to trash the film, which is based on genuine experiences of naive Hindu and Christian ladies who were first enticed into a love jihad trap and then brainwashed into joining ISIS and waging Jihad against unbelievers.
In recent news, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan made the film tax-free in Madhya Pradesh, emphasizing that everyone should view it since it reveals the plot of love jihad, conversion, and terrorism. “The film The Kerala Story exposes and exposes the conspiracy of love jihad, conversion, and terrorism.” This film depicts the destruction of girls who become involved in the web of love jihad due to sentimentality. “This film also exposes the design of terrorism and makes us aware of terrorist activities,” the BJP stalwart remarked.
On May 8, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee banned the film in the state to maintain “peace”. Though the film’s name is ‘The Kerala Story’, she said ‘The Kerala Files’ for unknown reasons.
The multiplex theatres in Tamil Nadu opted to pull the movie due to the law-and-order situation created by the protests the film, as well as the film’s poor reception in the state.
The Kerala Story producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah has also been called out by politician Jitendra Awhad for popularizing a fact that may or may not exist. He resorted to Twitter to convey his feelings about the film. Mr. Awhad said, “They had said 32,000 women from Kerala had gone missing and joined the terrorist group ISIS, but the real figure is three. The film is peddling fiction and the producer should be hanged in public.”
Considering all this, it is vital to do a reality check to determine how pervasive the problem of forced conversion and ISIS recruitment is in God’s own land. It is not an exaggeration to argue that love jihad exists; in fact, it began primarily in Kerala. There is abundant evidence in the public domain to suggest that Muslim teenagers are luring not only Hindu girls but even Christian girls at the urging of their religious lecturers. They marry these girls and convert them to Islam before sending them to Middle Eastern nations such as Iraq and Syria, where they are employed as terrorists or sex slaves.
The multilingual production, which stars Adah Sharma and is written and directed by Sudipto Sen, has received a lot of attention since its teaser was released.