The Idukki diocese under the Syro Malabar Catholic Church in Kerala has screened the movie “The Kerala Story” for the teens to educate them about the dangers of love affairs. This comes just two days after the Kerala government made a hue and cry over the decision by Doordarshan to stream the movie.
According to local reports, the movie was screened by the diocese for its younger members on Sunday, 7th April for students from grades 10 to 12 as part of catechism classes.
Father Jins Karakkat, chairman of the Idukki Diocese Media Commission, gave a statement on the same saying, “The movie was screened to educate youngsters about the dangers lurking behind love affairs and marriage.”
The students were asked to watch the movie and review it after discussion within their groups. The dioceses also circulated a book on the matter among students.
Father Karakkat said intensive training programmes for children are held every year during vacation. He said that specific topics are selected for the programme and books prepared for it.
“This year, the programme was held on April 2, 3 and 4. The theme of the textbooks prepared for the children of Classes 10, 11, and 12 was love relationships,” he said.
He added, “Nowadays, there are circumstances in which teenagers are largely falling in love and facing dangers. So, we intended to create awareness among our children about such dangers,” he explained.
On 5th April, Doordarshan announced that The Kerala Story would be on Friday following which Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the decision.
He said that this is an attempt at polarization just before the Lok Sabha elections. Kerala Congress leader VD Satheesan has also demanded that the government channel back off the move to screen the ‘The Kerala Story’ on Doordarshan, saying the movie is a “collection of untruth.”
The CPI(M) state secretary alleged that the BJP decided to screen the film as the general elections are approaching, hoping to push its political agenda as the BJP was unable to make inroads into Kerala’s society.
It is important to note that Adah Sharma-starrer ‘The Kerala Story’ is one of the successful movies of 2023. The film saw popularity and ran well but there were attempts to corner the film and ban it for the subject matter.
The film brought a spotlight on subjects like forced/lured religious conversions, ISIS brides, and love jihad. The film was even banned in West Bengal initially and the makers had to plead before the Honourable courts to get its ban lifted, which was eventually lifted.
However, there were reports of the court’s order not being followed in its entirety. The story of the movie is based on the true story of Hindu girl Nimisha who was brain washed into marrying a Muslim, converting to Islam and leaving India to join ISIS.