Kerala CM slams anti-Muslim movie as Hindu extremist propaganda
The Chief Minister of Kerala state has slammed an upcoming anti-Muslim propaganda film, “The Kerala Story,” for basing its premise on the blatantly false claim that 32,000 Hindu women from Kerala state converted to Islam and joined ISIS.
The film claims that these women were then deployed to carry out acts of terror in India and around the world. There is no evidence to support any of these claims, a fact that has been reiterated by lawyers, activists, and others who have voiced their outrage on social media.
“[Hindu extremists] are trying to spread the politics of division through fake stories and movies,” Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a Facebook post. “The big lie that 32,000 women in Kerala converted to Islam and joined the Islamic State… is the product of the [Hindu right’s] lie factory.”
Adding that the film is an attempt by Hindu supremacist politicians to alienate Muslims and gain electoral advantages, Vijayan said that the filmmakers are also trying to push the “love jihad” conspiracy theory, which falsely claims that Muslim men have an agenda to seduce and convert Hindu women.
“The movie… is part of a systematic move to frame the love jihad allegations, which were rejected by the investigating agencies, the courts and even the Union Home Ministry. G Kishan Reddy also replied in Parliament that there is no such thing as ‘love jihad,’” said Vijayan.
“[The Hindu right] is trying to break the atmosphere of religious harmony in Kerala and spread the poison of communalism,” he added.
Hindu extremist leader praises Gandhi’s assassination in hate speech event
A Hindu extremist leader praised Gandhi’s assassination as the only reason why Hindus are still dominant in India today during a hate speech event in Maharashtra state.
Addressing a crowd of Hindu extremists, Muni Nilesh Chandra Maharaj claimed that Gandhi was “only interested in stars and moons,” a reference to Islamic symbolism.
“Had [Nathuram] Godse not shot Gandhi on his chest, the whole Hindu community would be offering [prayer] in Makkah-Madina,” he said, referring to the Hindu militant responsible for Gandhi’s murder.
Another Hindu militant leader, Bharatanand Saraswati Maharaj, ordered Hindu women to carry weapons to “safeguard” themselves from Muslim men and urged the event attendees to watch “The Kerala Story,” an upcoming anti-Muslim propaganda film.
Other Hindu militant leaders made calls for hate crimes against Muslims, including the demolition of Muslim graveyards and refusing to do business with Muslims.
The hate speech event was carried out and filmed without interruption, despite a recent Supreme Court order that law enforcement should file cases against those spreading hate speech in all states.
Tamil Nadu government rejects anti-Christian rhetoric before Supreme Court
The government of Tamil Nadu state has told the Supreme Court that there is “nothing wrong” with Christians peacefully spreading their religion, and that their right to do so is protected by the Indian Constitution.
The government further pushed back against Hindu extremists’ claims that Christians force Hindus to convert to Christianity, saying that such incidents are not reported in Tamil Nadu.
In an affidavit, the state government said, “The Constitution does not give a fundamental right to any person to turn another man into one’s own religion. But it gives a right to any person to propagate his religion.”
“Likewise, the Constitution does not prevent any person from getting converted to the religion of his choice,” it added. “The citizens of the country should be allowed freely to choose their religion and it would not be appropriate for the government to put spokes to their personal belief and privacy.”
