Kerala's ruling CPI (M) and opposition UDF, led by Congress, have rallied against Doordarshan's decision to telecast the controversial "The Kerala Story" movie on April 5.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan Thursday slammed the broadcaster, stating the move would only "exacerbate communal tensions" ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. The movie had run into trouble for its content, which showed Hindu women being coerced into converting to Islam and joining the Islamic State. Though the makers claimed it was based on true incidents, the Kerala government had called it a distorted attempt.
Now, the Doordarshan's decision to telecast the movie has been condemned by the state's Left government, which asked the national broadcaster not to become a "propaganda machine" for the BJP and the 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.
The CPI(M) also asked the public broadcaster to withdraw its decision to telecast the movie, urging the channel not to stand with the "BJP's attempt to polarise" the secular Kerala society.
The party alleges that the decision to screen the controversial movie ahead of the general elections was a means to advance BJP's political agenda since the 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.
The Opposition led by the Congress party criticised the move, with opposition leader V D Satheesan calling it a "collection of untruth."
"The strategy of the Sangh Parivar administration led by Modi is to create division within secular society by screening the film 'The Kerala Story', which is a collection of untruth. Understanding that the politics of division cannot be used in Kerala, Sangh Pariwar using Doordarshan, a central government institution, for political gain cannot be accepted," he lashed out at the Centre.
He said the decision to screen the movie ahead of the polls was a violation of the Election Code of Conduct and that the party would approach the Election Commission of India against it.
