CM Yogi tweeted in Hindi, “The Kerala Story will be made tax-free in the state.”
The Kerala Story, a controversial movie that purports to portray the tales of three women
radicalized into joining the terrorist organization ISIS, has caused a strong split in public
opinion and prompted conflicting responses from state governments.
A day after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee warned the film would be
prohibited in the state because it would cause a disturbance, the Yogi Adityanath
administration today said that the film would be tax-free in Uttar Pradesh.
The movie had previously been tax-free by the Madhya Pradesh government, which is also
led by the BJP. The video “exposes the conspiracy of love Jihad, religious conversion, and
terrorism and brings out its hideous face, “according to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan, who made the announcement.
Nationwide BJP officials have asked state governments, particularly in states where the
party is not in power, to grant “The Kerala Story” tax-free status.
The film’s creators were attacked by the CPM-led Kerala government for allegedly adopting
Sangh Parivar rhetoric.
The notion of “love jihad, “which has been rejected by courts, investigation agencies, and
the center, is brought up in the movie, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who
said that this is an attempt to portray the state as a hotbed of religious extremism.
According to Mr. Vijayan, such “propaganda films” and the alienation of Muslims they
portray must be seen in the context of Sangh Parivar’s attempts to advance politically in
Kerala. He charged the Sangh Parivar with “sowing the poisonous seeds of communalism” in
an effort to undermine religious peace inside the state.
Although the ban on the film has been announced in Bengal, an official order is still pending.
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister, recently expressed her belief that the film is an effort
to discredit Kerala and drew parallels with the controversial film Kashmir Files. Banerjee
suggested that the creators of the film are attempting to shame particular groups, and their
narrative is continually damaging Kerala’s reputation.