'The Kerala Story' is RSS agenda to humiliate the state, says CM Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday launched yet another attack on the RSS over controversial film The Kerala Story alleging it was part of the Saffron organisations agenda to humiliate the stateHe said a blatant lie was created in the imagination of certain people and was presented as a film to tarnish the image of the stateNot just Keralites but even people from various other parts of the country had already registered their strong protest against this movie he said while addressing a press conference at Chavara hereHe was replying to the questions regarding the recent screening of the film by Idukki Diocese under the prominent Syro Malabar Catholic Church for teenagers as part of an intensive training programmeDirected by Sudipto Sen the Bollywood film is about a group of women from Kerala who were forced to convert to Islam and join ISISVijayan alleged that the movie was brought out with clear political intention and giving it more propagation may also have a deliberate agendaHe cautioned the people not to fall into the trap of the RSS and the Sangh Parivar who according to him would try to create enmity between different sections of society to fulfill their intentionsIt is better not to fall into that trapIt the film is RSS agendaSangh Parivar agenda We should not be part of that agenda It was said that the movie tells the story of Kerala Where have such things happened in the state Vijayan askedThe movie tried to depict the state in a poor light but Kerala is a place where people live unitedly cutting across their religious and caste differences he saidThe chief minister further said that the people of Kerala are proud of their state and any attempt to tarnish its image should be opposed and condemnedHowever Vijayan didnt utter any word against the church for screening the controversial film as part of its intensive training programmeAmidst a raging row over national broadcaster Doordarshan airing The Kerala Story the Idukki Diocese screened the film last week for its children studying in classes 10 11 and 12 and asked them to discuss the film and write a review about itAs news of the screening of the movie hit headlines the Diocese on Monday came out with an explanation claiming the film was shown to create awareness about love relationships and its consequences and dangersFr Jins Karakkat media incharge of the Diocese said they conduct an intensive training programme for children every year during vacationSpecific topics are selected for the programme and books prepared for it he addedThis year the programme was held on April 2 3 and 4 The theme of the textbooks prepared for the children of classes 10 11 and 12 was love relationships the priest saidThe objective of selecting the topic was to create awareness about falling in love and its consequences he saidNowadays there are circumstances in which teenagers are largely falling in love and facing dangers So we intended to create awareness among our children about such dangers he explainedWhen quizzed about the controversy surrounding the film the priest said he had no idea about it and only knew that it was released on an OTT platformThe screening of the film by the Catholic diocese again triggered a political debate in the state on Monday with the BJP saying the movie received support from all walks of lifeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever