Congress leader and leader of Opposition in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan on Friday urged the state government not to give permission to screen the film ‘The Kerala Story’ which falsely claims that 32,000 women in Kerala have been converted and made members of the Islamic state

In a Facebook post on Friday, Satheesan said, “Permission should not be given for the screening of the film that falsely claims that 32,000 women in Kerala have been converted to Islam and became members of Islamic State.”

It is clear that the intention of the movie was to tarnish the image of the state at international level, Satheesan said in the post.

“This is not an issue of freedom of expression, but part of an attempt to implement the Sangh Parivar agenda of creating divisions in the society by casting aspersions on minority groups. The trailer makes it clear what the film intends to say,” the Congress leader wrote in the Facebook post.

He said this was part of a vicious agenda to sow seeds of hatred and religious animosity, but the people of Kerala will stand united to defeat such forces.

“What director Sudipto Sen has told the media about the content of the film is available to the public. It is clear that the film is trying to insult and slander Kerala at international level. This is part of the agenda to germinate the seeds of sectarianism planted by Modi for political gains. Kerala will stand united against this deliberate move to foster religious rivalry and enmity. That is the tradition of this land,” Satheesan wrote.

Satheesan’s statement came as the controversial movie is set to hit theatres on 5 May. The filmmakers, earlier this week, announced the release date with a poster that shows a burqa-clad woman with a tagline “Uncovering the truth that was kept hidden.”

Two months ago, the film’s trailer was released which triggered protests in the state. The film is directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Shah. It is claimed that the film is based in the backdrop of the 2016 missing case of 21 people from north Kerala, who reportedly joined the Islamic State-held areas of Syria and Afghanistan.

A teaser for the film, released in November, was criticised for carrying inaccurate claims about the number of women who might have been caught in these kinds of situations. The DYFI, the youth wing of the CPI-M also came out against the movie calling it a Sangh parivar ploy intended to portray the state in a bad light.

“The Sangh Parivar has been trying to portray the state as the hub of religious fanatics and anti-national forces. This is part of its ploy for communal polarisation but this will not work in a state like Kerala. The state will stand as a cradle of secularism and democratic values,” DYFI said in a statement.