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'The Kerala Story' declared tax-free in Madhya Pradesh: ‘Exposes horrific face’
‘The Kerala Story’ has generated a lot of controversy for the unsubstantiated claims of 32,000 women missing from the state.
Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday declared ‘The Kerala Story’ tax-free in the state, saying the film “exposes the horrific face of love jihad, religious conversion, and terrorism.”
In a video address, Chouhan said, "The film shows how the (life of) daughters who get entangled in the trap of love jihad get destroyed. It also exposes the design of terrorism."
“While we have already brought a law against (forced) conversion, the film creates awareness about the issue. This film should be watched by all and that's why the Madhya Pradesh government is declaring the film tax-free,” he added.
The Kerala Story, starring Adah Sharma and written and directed by Sudipto Sen, hit the screens on May 5. The film triggered a massive controversy after it falsely claimed in its teaser that 32,000 missing women in Kerala converted to Islam and joined the terror outfit Islamic State.
The Kerala High Court on Friday refused to stay the release of the controversial film saying the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole. A bench of Justices N Nagaresh and Sophy Thomas also noted the submission made by the producers that they do not intend to retain an "offending teaser" which contained a statement that "32,000 women" from Kerala were converted and joined a terrorist organisation.
"In view of the disclaimer also, we are not inclined to pass an interim order restraining the respondents from exhibiting the film as such. In view of the above and taking into consideration the statement made by the producer that the producer does not intend to retain the offending teaser in their social media handles, no further orders are necessary in this petition at this stage," the court said.
