The Kerala Story Controversy: Congress demands ban on Vipul Shah's film, calls it 'Sangh Parivar agenda'

Kerala Director General of police Anil Kant on Tuesday directed the Thiruvananthapuram city police commissioner to register FIR on the teaser of the movie 'The Kerala Story'.

According to the Kerala Police, the direction was based on a complaint sent to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. A High Tech Crime Enquiry Cell had conducted a preliminary enquiry and a report was sent to DGP.

"DGP's direction was based on this report," the police said.

The character in the teaser claimed that 32,000 girls from Kerala were being forcibly converted and then later joined the terrorist group ISIS.

Opposition and Congress leader VD Satheesan called the teaser of 'The Kerala Story' as a "clear case of misinformation" and claimed that the film is made to "tarnish the image of Kerala" in front of other states while also alleging that it is a "Sangh Parivar agenda".

"I have seen that teaser. It's a clear case of misinformation. There is nothing like that happening in Kerala. This is to tarnish the image of Kerala in front of other states. This is a Sangh Parivar agenda. They are consistently trying to spread hatred among people. On what basis is the film made, and on what information?" he said.

He said that there is no "credible information" about the 32,000 girls missing in Kerala while claiming that there is no such record with the state police.

"There is no record with the state police. If there is anything with central intelligence, they have to bring it to the public. These are the records, these are the list of women, these are the addresses of the women who joined the IS, they were recruited from Kerala," the Congress leader said.

"Now we are opposing all the communalists, both minority and majority. There are extreme outfits from both sides, they are helping each other. We might think they are fighting but they are helping each other. When one outfit is giving some misinformation or spreading hatred that will help the other side," Satheesan added.

He said that if the Pinarayi Vijayan government does not take any action in the matter, the party would approach the court.

"We have tried to get information from the police and other sides. Now I got information that the police have lodged an FIR. I am welcoming the decision of the state police. If the state government is not doing anything, we will approach the court," he said.

The Congress leader demanded the film to be banned claiming that it is "spreading hatred".

"This is spreading hatred so it should be banned. In a normal scenario, we are against banning films, but this type of misinformation will lead to communal issues. Deliberately they are planning without any credible information they have made this film. This is utter nonsense," he said.

Earlier, a journalist from Tamil Nadu Aravindakshan B R wrote a letter to the Kerala Chief Minister after having watched the teaser of a to-be-released movie called 'The Kerala Story'.

The journalist asked the Kerala government to call the director of the movie and investigate the veracity of the released teaser.

According to Aravindakshan B R, the movie's teaser was released on November 3, 2022, on a YouTube channel called Sunshine Pictures.

"Produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Directed by Sudipto Sen, the teaser depicts the heart-wrenching story of 32,000 women from Kerala who were radicalized to join ISIS (Islamic Iraq and Syria) terrorist groups," the letter read.

Similarly, Aravindakshan B R has also sent a complaint to Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur and Secretary Apurva Chandra asking them to check the veracity of the content of it.

He also said in the letter that it is imperative on the part of the Union government to thoroughly investigate the source of information based on which the movie was produced.

The teaser, he said in the letter, narrates the story of a Muslim woman in front of an international border.

"In the character played by actress Adha Sharma, she says that she used to be Shalini Unnikrishnan and wanted to serve people as a nurse. She says she was forcibly converted to Islam and renamed Fatima Ba, then joined ISIS and later imprisoned in Afghanistan," the letter added.