The repercussions of a propaganda like “The Kerala Story”

After  the release of the controversial movie ‘The Kerala Story’, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Shah, many incidents of fear mongering and violence have been reported from different parts of the country.

Films are a medium which can easily influence if not alter public opinion as people are made to believe that what they are watching on the silver screen is indeed true especially when a movie pointedly lays claim that it is inspired by true stories. In doing so, filmmakers take cinematic liberty to dramatize situations which may have not happened, however, the line is blurred for the viewer and whatever is on the screen becomes a reflection of reality for them. It is pertinent to note that the filmmakers were compelled to remove the teaser from the internet after the matter reached Kerala High Court, as it made false claims that 32,000 girls in Kerala were converted to Islam and sent to ISIS.

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In Jammu, a Muslim medical student was allegedly beaten up with an iron rod by fellow students due to an altercation over the said movie. He sustained head injuries and had to get stitches for the same.

This was reported on May 15, by twitter account called @HindutvaWatch

Another video came to the fore on May 6 where some people, presumably outside a movie hall, were enraged and speaking against Muslims. A man, being interviewed by a man on camera said, “If you (Muslims) cheat Hindus and do something wrong against even one Hindus, you will have to leave this country.. We will beat you up if you don’t leave our Hindu women alone. If any Muslim even looks at a Hindu woman, he should be killed there itself. They are a threat to us”. It is unclear where this video was recorded.

Another reaction video after watching the movie surfaced on May 9. A woman was interviewing some people who were exiting the cinema hall after watching ‘The Kerala story’ and asked a woman, how did she like the movie, to which the woman responded, “I am very scared.” She then asked the reporter her name and when she said her name is Alisha, the woman confirmed if she was a Hindu, to which she replied in the affirmative. Then the woman said, “It was very nice but I am scared. Everyone should watch it. Every Hindu should watch it. I got scared looking at Muslims”.

These are just the incidents that have been so far recorded and somehow landed up on the internet, there are certainly many more of such undocumented incidents where animosity against the Muslim community must have increased, making room for hatred against them. Most of the time this animosity is unspoken (even hidden) as it influences the mind of a person who leaves the cinema hall after viewing the movie. It is these unspoken impressions that propaganda effectively hardens to then incites hatred against a community. It is this potential for creating lasting feelings of disharmony that has led to some governments to reach out to the courts for redressal.

The serious toss up is however between free speech, democracy, censorship and reasonable restrictions on free expression. Should a movie such as this, even if propaganda, be  expressly restricted under the restrictions provided for freedom of speech under Article 19(2) ? What are the dangers to taking such a line? The restrictions under this Article include restrictions in the interests of the security and sovereignty of India, friendly relations with Foreign States, public order, decency or morality in the relation to contempt of court, defamation or incitement to an offence. A movie like this would and could and has definitely become a reason for incitement to violence or could disturb public order, all of it indirectly, how should this impact be curtailed?

As is apparent from the incidents entailed above, the movie has become a cause for violence, a cause for disturbance in public order, yet it has not been seen as the kind of speech that needed to be restricted under the Constitution. The debate goes on. The wider creative community needs to step in.

Related:

The real Kerala story

Kerala: The Real Story, where Facts and numbers add up

‘The Kerala Story’ producer agrees to remove teaser claiming conversion of 32,000 women

The Kerala Story: now claims of true story of only 3 girls?