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Row erupts after diocese screens ‘The Kerala Story’ for teenagers
The film, directed by Sudipto Sen and released in May last year, tells a story of a group of women from Kerala who get coerced into Islam and are forced to join the terror outfit ISIS
The Idukki diocese of the Syro-Malabar Church, a prominent Catholic denomination in Kerala on Monday defended its move to screen the controversial film ‘The Kerala Story’ for teenagers of Classes 10, 11 and 12 saying the move was to “create awareness about love relationships and its consequences and dangers”. The Idukki Diocese screened the move last week.
The film, directed by Sudipto Sen and released in May last year, tells a story of a group of women from Kerala who get coerced into Islam and are forced to join the terror outfit ISIS. The film had attracted widespread protests in states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu and was opposed by parties such as Congress and CPI(M) for showing Kerala in “bad light”.
On Monday, Father Jins Karakkat, the media in-charge of the Idukki Diocese, said the film was screened on April 4 as part of an intensive training programme held for children during vacation every year. Topics are usually selected for the programme and appropriate books are prepared for it.
“This year, the programme was held on April 2, 3 and 4. The theme of the textbooks prepared for the children of Classes 10, 11, and 12 was love relationships. The objective of selecting the topic was to create awareness about falling in love and their consequences...nowadays, there are circumstances in which teenagers are largely falling in love and facing dangers. So, we intended to create awareness among our children about such dangers,” said Karakkat.
The film was shown to the children to bring the idea more effectively, he claimed.Children, who participated in the intensive training programme, were also asked to discuss the film in their WhatsApp group and compile reviews, he said.
The development comes amid widespread opposition by the ruling CPI(M) and the opposition Congress to the decision of Doordarshan to similarly screen the controversial film on April 5. CM Pinarayi Vijayan had asked Doordarshan to desist from the move as it could “exacerbate communal tensions” ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.Meanwhile, the screening of the film by the Catholic diocese again triggered a political debate in the state on Monday, with the BJP saying the movie received support from all walks of life.
BJP state chief K Surendran, who is also the party’s candidate from Wayanad constituency in the Lok Sabha polls, said ‘The Kerala Story’ movie has been receiving support from all walks of life and many parts of Kerala.
Hundreds of girls in Kerala are victims of Love Jihad, and this has been reported from districts including Kannur, he alleged.
However, ruling CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan and senior Congress leader V D Satheesan reiterated the film was made to tarnish the image of the southern state. Satheesan said Congress and the UDF do not agree with any attempt to humiliate the state.UDF would oppose both majority and minority communalism, he said and claimed no political party has taken such a bold stand in state politics in the past 50 years.
Govindan described ‘The Kerala Story’ as “anti-Kerala, anti-Communist and anti-Muslim.” “The movie has no value and has no connection with the socio-cultural life of the state. It’s a waste movie...made with the investment of the RSS and BJP to tarnish the state,” he alleged. He, however, did not react to the screening of the movie by the Idukki Diocese.
(With inputs from PTI)
