Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday slammed the trailer launch of ‘The Kerala Story 2′, a sequel to its predecessor about the fictional story of three young women from Kerala who are forced to join a terrorist group, warning the audience about the intentions behind the film. The chief minister said the film contains “anti-Kerala propaganda” and urged the public to reject the film. The BJP responded by diminishing the filmmakers’ right to freedom of expression.
“Our state has realized that the first part of the film, full of unfathomable lies, hatred and anti-Kerala propaganda, was produced with communal motives. In fact, people have rejected this distorted artistic creation by spreading the ‘real story of Kerala’. The people behind these ongoing hate campaigns are those who fear Kerala’s model of brotherhood and secularism,” the chief minister said in a social media post.
He claimed that even consensual marriage is portrayed by these forces using the color of sectarianism and forced conversion. “They look at Kerala, a state where there are no communal riots, and where people of all religions coexist with mutual respect, with hostility. They are trying to poison the peace and tranquility of our state. They are our real enemies,” he said, urging the audience to reject such films.
The Congress also echoed the Prime Minister’s words. “They are creating false stories that have nothing to do with reality and are deliberately spreading misunderstanding about Kerala, the land of harmony and friendship,” said KC Venugopal, Congress general secretary.
He added: “In the first part, they spread a lie that 32,000 women were deceived through alleged love jihad. This time there are scenes in which a person is forced to eat beef. It is clear that they are trying to hurt religious sentiments and sow hatred.”
The plot of ‘Kerala Story 2’, scheduled to release on February 27, according to its director Kamakhya Narayan Singh, is not specific to Kerala, but rather explores themes like forced religious conversions and the so-called ‘love jihad’ theory at the national level. According to the director, the film is inspired by “15-20 incidents” across India and attempts to tell the truth behind forced conversions to the larger society.
Responding to the criticism, BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said there are courts and censor boards available to address any controversial content in films. He alleged that the LDF government and the Prime Minister are showing hypocrisy over the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
“If anyone doesn’t like ‘Kerala Story’, they are free not to watch it. Those who want to watch it can go ahead. Why should the Prime Minister decide which film I should watch?… (If there are issues with the film), anyone can file a case against it in court. There are censor boards here,” he said.
