The official poster of “The Kerala Story”, directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah.
| Photo Credit: PTI
A group of Catholics, citing Pope Francis’ call on April 4 to foster respect for diversity, commitment to “our common home”, and the promotion of peace, expressed grave concern over the Idukki Diocese’s screening of controversial The Kerala Story, a feature film that is largely perceived to be portraying a religious community and Kerala as a whole in bad light.
The letter of protest against the decision of the diocese was signed, among others, by senior priest Paul Thelakat, former chief editor of Sathyadeepam, a widely circulated and well-received Catholic publication; Father Suresh Mathew, former chief editor of Indian Currents; and John Dayal, former president of the Catholic Council of India. The other signatories include prominent lay people, religious, and priests.
They said that on the day Pope Francis sent out a call for peace and brotherhood, the Idukki Diocese screened The Kerala Story for students of classes between X and XII as part of catechism classes. The spokesman for the diocese said the film was screened to raise awareness about ‘Love Jihad’. But the screening of the film “defies logic”, said the Catholic group.
“First of all, the movie is clearly a propaganda film created to further the Hindutva narrative trying to destroy the secular fabric of the country. Secondly, the film is replete with lies, factual inaccuracies and half truths; so much so that the director of the movie publicly admitted falsehood and had to correct the figures given in the original curtain-raiser,” the group added.
The most important point is that the film goes “against the teachings of the Church and the person and message of Jesus”, they added. The screening of the film is a grave cause for concern because it sows seeds of hatred, intolerance, and prejudice among children instead of promoting peace, compassion and acceptance, the core value of Christianity.
The group also asked how the film was screened for children, while the Central Board of Film Certification had ‘A’ certified it. Will the Idukki Diocese be prosecuted for screening the film for children? they asked.
