'Hang 'The Kerala Story' producer': NCP MLA

A NCP leader has triggered a controversy by saying that the producer of controversial film 'The Kerala Story' should be hanged.

"Under the name of 'The Kerala Story', a state and its women were defamed. The official figure of three was projected as 32,000. The person who produced this fictional movie should be hanged in public," ANI quoted NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad as saying.

His statement comes at a time when the West Bengal government has announced that it is banning the movie to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence."

The West Bengal government on Monday announced that the controversial movie 'The Kerala Story' is being banned in the state to avoid "any incident of hatred and violence", ANI reported.

Whereas the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have given tax-exemption for the flick revolves around 3 women who are converted and then sold off as sex slaves to the Islamic State.

Even the screening of the flick in Tamil Nadu has been cancelled from Sunday.

As his comments raised eyebrows, he has withdrawn his remarks.

"I take my statement back, it was an emotional outburst. I didn't mean it. The lies and propaganda are hurting the sentiments of the people of the nation. A man creates fiction and wants some controversy to make his movie hit. The official data is three and he has mentioned 32,000 in the movie. It is maligning the image of one of the best states in India. The movie will create havoc in another 15 days in the country," Awhad told Republic TV.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court agreed to list a challenge to the Kerala High Court order that refused to stay the release of the movie.

Days ago, the Kerala High Court refused to stay the release of the film 'The Kerala Story', saying "there is no allegation against the Islam religion."

Division Bench comprising Justice N Nagaresh and Justice Mohammed Nias CP had considered a batch of petitions seeking to cancel the censor certificate of the film. After watching the teaser and the trailer of the controversial flick, it said that the movie does not contain anything against Islam or Muslims, according to a report in Bar and Bench website.

"What is against Islam? There is no allegation against the religion. The allegation is against ISIS," the bench said. "Going through the trailers of the movie, we find it does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole. None of the petitioners have watched movie," it stated in the order.