Ever since the teaser for ‘The Kerala Story’ was out, social media is abuzz with comments, pro and against. They are all mostly centered around the number of girls who have fallen victims to the ‘love jihad’ trap or the portrayal of a distorted image of Kerala Muslims.
Few noticed the obnoxious scenes in the movie which can fuel deep distrust between Muslims and other communities. It also makes several false claims about Islamic law. The movie actually equates Shari’a with barbaric practices of terror outfit ISIS.
It claims Shari’a law prohibits Muslim women from using mobile phones! In one instance, hand of a woman being cut off for using lipstick as Islam prohibits woman applying lipstick!
Perhaps, the most disturbing scene in the film is the one in which hijab-clad Gitanjali (Sidhi Irani) spits on her father while he is lying unconscious in a hospital bed. Her father is a communist, and the film implies that her conversion to Islam has made her insensitive to his beliefs. This scene is not only offensive, but it is also dangerous. It perpetuates the stereotype that Muslims are intolerant and violent even towards their parents once they accept Islam as their faith. She also argues with her mother that father’s heart attack is god’s punishment for being a ‘kafir’.
Despite the Censor Board’s intervention, the movie claims that there are sharia-enforced villages in Kasaragod district of Kerala while there is nothing such exists.
Still, I won’t argue for a ban on the movie. It should be rather watched and the lies get exposed.
