Shiv Sena leader and MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday termed ‘The Kerala Story‘ “a propaganda film by the BJP” and the “second part of ‘The Kashmir Files’”.
“To polarise the Hindu and Muslims ahead of the Karnataka polls, the BJP used Bajrangbali, ‘The Kerala Story’ but this is not a good thing,” Raut said in his weekly column ‘Rokhthok’ in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, reported The Indian Express.
“What is the real condition of Kerala? Are Hindu and Christian girls really becoming victims of Islam in Kerala? Is it true that 32,000 Hindu and Christian girls were recruited into ISIS? Were innocent girls duped under the pretext of ‘love jihad’ and forced to become inhumane killers?” Raut asked.
“Vivek Agnihotri directed the film ‘The Kashmir Files’. He presented a gruesome picture of atrocities on Hindu Pandits in Kashmir. BJP, Modi-Shah used that film for BJP propaganda. Everyone, including Modi, went to watch ‘Kashmir Files’,” the column stated.
Raut said it was an agenda of the BJP to make ‘The Kerala Story’ a controversial movie for political gains. “The BJP banned a documentary film (by the BBC) on Gujarat riots, but, at the same time, promoted films like ‘The Kashmir Files’ and ‘The Kerala Story’. The plot of the film is brutal. Director Sudipto Sen said it was based on a true incident. Even if it is true, how can it be shown in such an inhuman way? There was the same inhumanity in ‘The Kashmir Files’.
Sen cited an interview of the then chief minister of Kerala Oommen Chandy as evidence. Chandy had said that 2,800-3,200 women converted to Islam in a year. Sen claimed that this number had gone up to 32,000 in the last ten years. How was it revealed that these girls were diverted to terrorism?” Raut asked.