Doordarshan Goes Ahead With 'The Kerala Story' Amidst Political Backlash

Despite strong protests from the ruling CPIM and Congress in Kerala, Doordarshan aired the controversial Bollywood movie 'The Kerala Story' on Friday. The autonomous public service broadcaster telecast the movie at 8 pm.

In response, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI), the youth wing of the CPIM, screened a video titled 'The Kerala Story True or Fake?' by YouTuber Dhruv Rathee at various locations across the state to debunk the movie.

The youth Congress also staged a protest march to the Doordarshan office around 8.30 pm against the broadcast. Earlier in the day, both the CPIM and Congress lodged separate complaints with the Election Commission of India against Doordarshan's decision to air the movie, alleging it could potentially polarise society along religious lines.

They urged the poll panel to intervene and stop its screening. However, the BJP claimed that the movie's theme was real and questioned why the Left and Congress were opposing it. V D Satheesan, Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, sent a letter to the Election Commission seeking to direct Doordarshan to withdraw its decision to telecast The Kerala Story.

He called it an "extremely malicious" propaganda film based on false promises that attempts to paint a bleak picture of Kerala's people. Satheesan accused it of being part of Sangh Parivar's agenda to divide India along communal lines.

He also said that the Central government's decision to telecast the movie through Doordarshan before the Lok Sabha election was an effort to divide society on religious grounds for electoral gains for the ruling BJP. He added that this decision violated the model code of conduct, which forbids any effort to divide society on religious lines.CPIM state secretary M V Govindan expressed concerns about the timing of the proposed telecast, as it coincided with heightened election campaigning.

He said that airing such a controversial film with a divisive plot could create mutual hatred between different religious groups and cause tensions. In his complaint letter to the ECI, Govindan requested necessary directions be issued to stop 'The Kerala Story' from being telecast through any channels.BJP state chief K Surendran accused both Left and Congress parties of playing vote bank politics and defended the movie as a real story.

He cited ISIS recruitment cases in Kerala and questioned why they were afraid of it. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned Doordarshan's decision on Thursday and asked them not to become a propaganda machine for BJP and RSS.

He urged them to withdraw from screening a film that only seeks to exacerbate communal tensions ahead of general elections.

The Kerala High Court had refused to stay the release of 'The Kerala Story' last year, stating that its trailer did not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole. The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had examined the movie and found it suitable for public exhibition.