Real stories of communal harmony in Kerala counter movie propaganda

As the controversial movie ‘The Kerala Story’ continues to be vigourously promoted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spread hatred against Muslims, several political leaders and activists have come forward to highlight the real stories of development, communal harmony and tolerance in the state.

The movie, under fire for distorting facts and peddling Islamophobic propaganda, claims to depict the ordeal of women who were converted to Islam to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group in Syria. Initially, it claimed that 32,000 women were converted and sent to foreign countries to take part in terror activities. When producers were forced to provide the source of the number, they withdrew the claim and deleted the teaser on it. Still, the movie claims that thousands of women were converted and forced to join the terror outfit. However, the fact of the matter is that there were only 4-5 non-Muslim women from Kerala who joined the outfit.

The movie has drawn a lot of anger and outrage across India, especially in Kerala. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee even announced a ban on the movie claiming that peace and harmony in her state would be affected if the film was screened there.

People are also highlighting the positive stories about the India’s most developed state, Kerala, to counter the negative propaganda. A video made by The Quint highlighting the contribution and track record of the state has gone viral on social media.

Prominent political activist Yogendra Yadav has shared the video through his Twitter handle and asked others to share it widely to “counter hate against Kerala generated by a third-rate movie”.

Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh also shared the video. He said, “The real” Kerala Story was extremely crisp and clear and well-articulated. These “Merchants of Hatred and Violence” must be exposed. Can you believe it? Only 3 not 32,000!! Shouldn’t they be prosecuted for spreading hatred?”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also joined the campaign of sharing the real Kerala stories. He shared information related to his government’s welfare activities.

Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) Member of Rajya Sabha (upper house of Indian Parliament) Johan Brittas posted a video showing that a Hindu couple got married in a mosque following all Hindu rituals. In Alapuzha District, Anju Sharath got married in a Muslim Jamaat mosque.

Another story which is being highlighted is related to the marriage of a Hindu girl by her foster Muslim parents in Kerala’s Kasargoad District. The girl was adopted by the Muslim couple when she was orphaned at the age of 11. When the girl was 22, the Muslim couple married her off to a Hindu according to all the customs and rituals of Hinduism.