Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and his Cabinet colleagues, along with several BJP legislators, watched the "The Kerala Story" in Guwahati on Thursday and said banning the movie was not a solution.
Several Opposition-ruled states like West Bengal and Tamil Nadu have banned the movie, which has been embroiled in a controversy ever since it was released.
Addressing the media after watching the film, Sarma said, "Banning the movie is not the solution. The movie talks about the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and is not against Muslims."
"This film has nothing to do with religion. This film only exposes the real design of terrorism which is there in our country," the CM further said.
Sarma said 'The Kerala Story' reflects the journey of an innocent lady who has been used by the terrorists as their pawn.
"This film exposes terrorism in the world and what’s going on inside the terrorist camps in the name of jihad and in the name of religion," Sarma said.
The Assam CM said people of Kerala, irrespective of religion, must raise their voice against the use of innocent girls by terrorist organisations.
"Certain sections globally are creating havoc in the minds of innocent Kerala people. In Assam, we do not have cases where girls join terrorism, but definitely there are cases where girls were indoctrinated and they were motivated to convert their religion because of the fact that they used to love someone," Sarma said.
The BJP leader also appealed to the people of India to see "The Kerala Story" along with their family and girl child.
'The Kerala Story' is directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutpal Shah. It stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani and Siddhi Idnani. The plot follows the story of a group of women from Kerala who are converted to Islam and join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
The film is premised on the theory of "love jihad", and claims that thousands of women from Kerala are being converted to Islam and recruited into ISIS.
Earlier in March 2022, Sarma along with all of his Cabinet colleagues and party MLAs had watched the ‘The Kashmir Files’ in a theatre in Guwahati. The Assam government did not impose any entertainment tax on the film. (UNI)
