Idukki: The Idukki diocese of the Kerala Catholic Church has sparked controversy by screening the contentious film 'The Kerala Story' to teenagers as part of their initiative to combat what they perceive as "love jihad."
The film, which depicts the journey of four women who converted to Islam and were allegedly recruited by the Islamic State, was shown to students in classes 10 to 12 during the diocese's annual summer catechism program.
Fr Karakkat claimed that the screening was intended to create awareness of the issue among students of the Syro-Malabar community. The booklet on 'love' explained 'love jihad' in which the Islamists use intimacy as a cover to recruit Christian and Hindu youth to the jihadist cause, The Hindu reported.
After Doordarshan announced the broadcasting of "The Kerala Story" on April 5, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the decision and urged the public broadcaster to withdraw its move. Vijayan said that the broadcast would only "exacerbate communal tensions" ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.
He asked Doordarshan not to become RSS-BJP's "propaganda machine".
Vijayan wrote on X, "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," he wrote.
The ruling party of the state CPI(M) also asked Dooradarsan not to broadcast the movie, asking it not to stand with BJP's attempt to polarise the secular people of Kerala. The party alleged that the BJP intends to make inroads in Kerala in the upcoming elections since it couldn't tame the state so far with its political agenda.
Opposition leader in the state VD Satheeshan also questioned the national broadcaster telecasting the controversial production, which questioned its claim in its trailer that 32,000 from the state were converted, radicalised and deployed in terror missions in both India and abroad.