Doordarshan must withdraw decision to air ‘The Kerala Story’, says Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

The Kerala Congress wrote to the Election Commission asking that the state-run broadcaster be refrained from telecasting the film.

Apr 5, 2024 - 08:00

Doordarshan must withdraw decision to air ‘The Kerala Story’, says Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister and Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday said that the state-run broadcaster Doordarshan National should withdraw its decision to air the film The Kerala Story, on grounds that the broadcast could “exacerbate communal tensions” ahead of the approaching Lok Sabha elections.

The film, directed by Sudipto Sen, was released on May 5. It claims to depict how women from Kerala were converted to Islam and recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group. The filmmakers initially claimed that 32,000 women from Kerala had joined the Islamic State, but when asked for evidence, they altered the trailer to state that the movie was a “compilation of the true stories of three young girls”.

Doordarshan had announced that the movie would be broadcast on April 5, the Hindustan Times reported.

In a post on social media, Vijayan said that film incited polarisation.

“The national news broadcaster should not become a propaganda machine of the BJP-RSS [Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] combine and withdraw from screening a film that only seeks to exacerbate communal tensions ahead of the general elections,” he said. “Kerala will remain steadfast in opposing such malicious attempts to sow hatred.”

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindutva group, is the parent organisation of the ruling BJP.