Tamil Nadu BJP vice president Narayanan Thirupathy on Tuesday hit out at the ruling DMK government for pulling down ‘The Kerala Story’ film from all the theatres in the state. The BJP leader condemned the move and alleged that it was done due to “vote bank politics”.
“Tamil Nadu government - which was not able to legally ban the film in the state - is now trying to remove the film from all theatres. This is condemnable. Due to vote bank politics, the DMK government is not allowing this movie to be screened in the state,” Thirupathy told news agency ANI.
Also read: ‘Fascist fatwa’: BJP reacts sharply as Bengal becomes first state to ban ‘The Kerala Story’
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday stopped the screening of the controversial Sudipto Sen movie - which has triggered a massive political row. The trailer came under fire as it claimed to depict the forced recruitment and conversion of young girls and women by the terrorist group - ISIS.
On Friday, the Kerala high court refused to stay the release of the movie, noting that the producers have published a disclaimer along with the movie which specifically says that the film is a fictionalised and dramatised version of events and that it does not claim accuracy or factuality of historic events. It also observed that there was no allegation against a religion, but only against the ISIS organisation.
{{/usCountry}}On Friday, the Kerala high court refused to stay the release of the movie, noting that the producers have published a disclaimer along with the movie which specifically says that the film is a fictionalised and dramatised version of events and that it does not claim accuracy or factuality of historic events. It also observed that there was no allegation against a religion, but only against the ISIS organisation.
{{/usCountry}}“There is something called freedom of speech and expression. They have artistic freedom, we have to balance that also,” Justice Nagaresh stated.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is set to hear an appeal on Monday against the Kerala High Court's interim order.