‘The Kerala Story’ exposed terror ploys in state, says Narendra Modi at Karnataka rally
The prime minister accused the Congress of having a backdoor understanding with people holding ‘terrorist mindsets’ and urged voters to be wary of it.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday said that the movie The Kerala Story exposed terror conspiracies in the southern state and accused the Congress of having a covert political understanding with people holding “terrorist mindsets”.
He made the statement at a Bharatiya Janata Party rally in the city of Ballari in poll-bound Karnataka.
Directed by Sudipto Sen, The Kerala Story claims to depict the lives of women from the state who had been converted to Islam and recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group. It was released on Friday.
The filmmakers had initially claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined the Islamic State but when they were asked to provide evidence, they altered the trailer to say that the movie was a “compilation of the true stories of three young girls”.
At the rally in Ballari, Modi said: “There is a lot of discussion about ‘The Kerala Story’ these days. It is said that the film is based on terrorist conspiracies in just one state. [Kerala is] such a beautiful state, and its people are hardworking and talented. ‘The Kerala Story’ has exposed terrorist conspiracies taking place in this state.”
Modi, however, accused the Congress of standing in support of terrorist elements. “Not only that, the Congress is striking backdoor political deals with people with terrorist mindsets,” he alleged. “So, the people of Karnataka must be very wary of the Congress.”
Several Opposition leaders have alleged that “The Kerala Story” propagates false claims and stokes communal hatred.
Initially, the filmmakers claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined the Islamic State but when they were asked to provide evidence, they altered the trailer to say that the movie was a “compilation of the true stories of three young girls”.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that film was the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-led Sangh Parivar’s propaganda to project the state as a centre of religious extremism by raising the bogey of “love jihad”.
“Love jihad” is a debunked Hindutva conspiracy theory that Muslim men romantically lure Hindu women in order to convert them to Islam.
Several petitions were also filed in the Supreme Court and the Kerala High Court seeking to halt the screening of the film. However, both the courts refused to order a stay on the screening on Friday.
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