Doordarshan announced the movie Kerala Story to be aired on 5th April at 8 pm. This decision was followed by political uproar from Kerala’s government as well as its opposition. The movie is considered by many to be Islamophobic and a tool of propaganda by the BJP.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan raised concerns about the decision of Doordarshan to air a movie which paints a false picture of the state and tries to polarise people.
“The decision by @DDNational to broadcast the film ‘Kerala Story’, which incites polarisation, is highly condemnable. The national news broadcaster should not become a propaganda machine of the BJP-RSS combine and withdraw from screening a film that only seeks to exacerbate communal tensions ahead of the general elections. Kerala will remain steadfast in opposing such malicious attempts to sow hatred.”
On April 5th, V.D. Sathesan tweeted opposing the broadcast of Kerala Story on Doordarshan.
He said that this movie is used to spread hate and divide society with falsehood. In the letter to the election commissioner of India, he complained that this action was in opposition to the model code of conduct.
Congress member, Shashi Tharoor in a report by ANI has also said that the Kerala state is peaceful and is not like mini-Pakistan, and yet the lies of the show are being officially circulated and officially broadcasted. He claimed that the actions were propaganda at its cheapest and worst. He criticized the channel for airing the show and claimed that the movie was only meant to serve the political interests of the ruling party.
Kerala Story uproar
A similar uproar was seen when the movie was released and approved by the censor board giving them A certificate. The movie claims to show the true truth of the fraud conversions with the Hindus in the state by trapping them in love traps. BJP has shown open support to the movie for blowing off the cover of the love jihad agendas.
The opposition even at that time took a strong stand against the release of this movie claiming it to be Islamophobic and fuelling hatred between communities. The movie was in spite of this allowed to release after the movie makers agreed to delete scenes which falsely claimed that 32,000 women had gone missing, converted to Islam and joined ISIS.
The release of the movie triggered protests around the state and several places all over the country. The protests failed to create an impact, failing to get national attention.
The box office collection in India for this movie was Rs.242 crores and Rs.303 crores worldwide. This is against the production costs of Rs.15-20 crores showing the movie being a big success. The success of the movie shows the sensation it created, growing its popularity. Though many people agreed with the view of the movie and with the problem of love jihad the viewers stayed divided which eventually helped the movie get more attention and viewership.
Kerala protests against the broadcast!
The Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) conducted a march to the centres of Doordarshan in Thiruvananthapuram against the broadcast. A protest was also organised in Kochi. The Youth Congress also organised a protest at 8:30 pm outside the Doordarshan office.
A senior CPI(M) leader said that to avoid creating hatred and further problems, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting should direct guidelines for the same.
The Congress also reached out to the election commission regarding Doordarshan’s decision and said that it was their way of dividing the country and furthering electoral prospects.
The DYFI has also announced to screen “The Real Kerala Story”, an alternative visual of Kerala story to show the true side of Kerala.
