Satheesan stated that the screening of the film before elections would be a violation of the moral code of conduct.
Published Apr 05, 2024 | 11:01 AM ⚊ Updated Apr 05, 2024 | 11:02 AM
A poster of the film 'The Kerala Story'. (X)
Kerala Opposition leader VS Satheesan has approached the Election Commission of India to ask Doordarshan to revoke its decision “to telecast the extremely malicious The Kerala Story movie”.
The Opposition leader wrote to the poll panel on Friday, 5 April, a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made a similar demand to Doordarshan.
“The decision of the central government to telecast the movie via Doordarshan before the Lok Sabha election is a tacit effort to divide society on religious grounds to further the electoral prospects of the ruling BJP, ” Satheesan said in the letter.
Terming it a propaganda movie, the letter further said, “As you are aware, The Kerala Story is a propaganda film based on extremely false premises and attempts to paint a bleak picture of the people of the state. I believe this is part of Sangh Parivar’s poisonous agenda to divide the country along communal lines.”
Stating that the screening of the film before elections would amount to a violation of the moral code of conduct, Satheesan urged the CEC to “Direct Doordarshan to withdraw from its decision to telecast the extremely malicious The Kerala Story movie.”
#Kerala‘s Leader of the Opposition @vdsatheesan approached the @ECISVEEP to direct @DDNational
to withdraw from its decision “to telecast the extremely malicious #Kerala Story movie” pic.twitter.com/QDYoytPcO2— South First (@TheSouthfirst) April 5, 2024
Vijayan on Thursday, 4 April, condemned Doordarshan‘s decision to telecast The Kerala Story, saying it would only “exacerbate communal tensions” ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
He also asked the national broadcaster not to become a “propaganda machine” for the BJP and RSS.
“The decision by @DDNational to broadcast the film Kerala Story, which incites polarisation, is highly condemnable. The national news broadcaster should not become a propaganda machine of the BJP-RSS combine and withdraw from screening a film that only seeks to exacerbate communal tensions ahead of the general elections.
“Kerala will remain steadfast in opposing such malicious attempts to sow hatred,” Vijayan said in a post on X.
#Kerala CM @pinarayivijayan slammed the decision of @DDNational to broadcast #KeralaStory
In a social media post, he said,
“The decision by @DDNational to broadcast the film ‘Kerala Story’, which incites polarisation, is highly condemnable. The national news broadcaster should… pic.twitter.com/MUjTtuTymS
— South First (@TheSouthfirst) April 4, 2024
Doordarshan has announced that the movie will be broadcast on 5 April.
In a statement, the ruling CPI(M) also asked the public broadcaster to withdraw its decision to telecast the movie.
The party asked it not to stand with the “BJP’s attempt to polarise” the secular Kerala society.
The CPI(M) state secretariat alleged that the BJP decided to screen the controversial movie as the general elections were nearing, hoping to advance its political agenda since the saffron party was unable to make inroads in Kerala society.
“This amounts to challenging Kerala. Kerala had witnessed strong protests when it was released. The censor board itself had removed 10 scenes from the movie,” CPI(M) said.
A public sector broadcast service should not stand with the “BJP’s attempt to polarise” the secular Kerala society, it said.
The Kerala High Court had last year refused to stay the release of the film, stating that the movie trailer did not contain anything offensive to any particular community.
It added that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had examined the movie and found it suitable for public exhibition.
The movie’s trailer was severely criticised and challenged before the court for “falsely” claiming that 32,000 women from Kerala got converted and radicalised, and were deployed in terror missions both in India and abroad.
The BJP had alleged that there was an unofficial ban on the movie in the theatres of the state.
Strong protests were held by the CPI(M) and the Congress against the movie when it was released in 2023.
(Edited by Sumavarsha Kandula. With PTI inputs)
