Daily Times

The Indian propaganda film titled “The Kerala Story” was exposed even before its release after the critics questioned the veracity of the number of women, who were allegedly converted their faith and were trafficked to join ISIS. The teaser of the movie released in November 2022 said it was based on the “heartbreaking and gut-wrenching stories of 32000 females in Kerala!”

However, the critics contested the magnanimity of this figure as many termed it a gross exaggeration. After the controversy and calls for ban from different circles, the filmmaker toned down the claimed figure and reduced it to just three. Now, the trailer of the film, which came out last week, says that “The Kerala Story is a compilation of the true stories of three young girls from different parts of Kerala.”

However, in a video from a screening in New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) on Tuesday, the director of the film Sudipto Sen responded to a question on the said figure, saying, “Do you think the number actually matters? The 32,000 number is an arbitrary number. It is based on facts.” The film has been slammed by the state govt, critics, Indian media and many social media users. Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the movie is to further India’s ruling party’s propaganda [against Muslims]. In a Facebook post on Sunday, Vijayan said that the purpose of the film was to demonise Kerala and to divide the state along racial lines.

He further accused the filmmaker of threatening religious harmony by “sowing the seeds of communalism” through the debunked claim that 32,000 women were kidnapped from India and handed over to ISIS.” In the past, the Indian Muslims were maligned through another film “Kashmir Files” just to pursue the Hindutva ideology being religiously pursued and backed by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government.