On Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue of the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ and said that the movie is based on a terror conspiracy. “It shows the ugly truth of terrorism and exposes terrorists’ design,” PM Modi said while addressing the masses at Ballari in Karnataka ahead of the State Assembly Elections. The prime minister’s comments came amid the controversy over the movie which was released today.
The Prime Minister also slammed the Congress party for opposing the film and demanding to impose a ban on its release. “Congress is opposing the film made on terrorism and standing with terror tendencies. Congress has shielded terrorism for the vote bank,” he said.
This is days after the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) which is the political wing of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) declared that it would contest only 16 Assembly seats in the upcoming Karnataka Assembly Election 2023 in order to help Congress.
The SDPI had earlier said that it would field its candidates in 100 constituencies. However, it decided to contest only 16 seats in the upcoming state elections. This is to help Congress in defeating the BJP in the state. Also, the Congress, as a part of vote appeasement, has vowed to ban the Bajrang Dal if it comes into power.
“The Kerala Story film has exposed the terror conspiracy taking place in the beautiful state of Kerala. But look at the unfortunate situation in the country where the Congress is seen standing with this trend of terrorism that destroys societies. Not just this, the Congress is also taking part in backdoor political negotiations with those who are linked to this trend of terrorism,” PM Modi added.
The movie, the Kerala Story—written and directed by Sudipto Sen is based on the true stories of thousands of girls from Kerala who were converted to Islam and sent to Syria to become ISIS terrorists and sex slaves. The movie released today, May 5.
Notably the Kerala High Court today refused to issue stay on the release of the movie stating that India is a democratic country with secularism embedded in it. “This is not a historical movie. This is a story. It is fiction. In Kerala we are so secular. They say it is inspired by true events. What is wrong in it?” the Court said.