The fraudulent 'Kerala Story': playing with BJP leaders and destroying India's global brand
The Narendra Modi-led government showed that it is using the narrative industry specifically to spread extremist messages by screening the film The Kerala Story in India a few months ago. Narratives that benefit some people, but from a civilizational point of view, destroy the power base of Indian society.
The division between different ethnic groups and religions in a country like India weakens the national identity of the country in the long run, which is now considered one of the emerging economic powers of the world. The political weakening of this country and its consequent economic weakening is a favorable development for countries seeking to dictate to Indian society, especially for countries that benefited greatly from Indian colonialism.
The West, since the second half of the twentieth century, has always claimed that it is the cradle of freedom and democracy and is capable of accepting the diversity of religions and cultures, and has tried to bring this to various societies of the world. Naturally, it is very dear to him to see a competitor against him, and also from the side of the old continent and the culture of the East, that is, Asia.
If India and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) realize this point, they will not allow suspicious, extremist and colonialist actors to destroy the social narrative on which the Indian brand depends, and thus the memory of India will remain in different minds as a land at war with other religions.
The film The Story of Kerala tells the fictional story of a Hindu woman who converted to Islam and became radicalized. The film destroys the face of Indian Muslims and, codenamed ISIS, tries to show Islam as an inhumane and violent religion.
14% of India's population of 1.4 billion saw the film in theaters and the film was chosen as the second highest-grossing film of the year.
According to writer and journalist Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, cinema has a special appeal for Indians and is therefore a unique means of influencing the public.
"The Story of Kerala" was launched in May to coincide with elections in the southern state of Karnataka in which Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) contested. The elections led to violent clashes.
During an election rally, Modi supported the film and accused the opposition party of supporting terrorist tendencies. Members of Modi's party organized free screenings of the film.
The two state governments led by the BJP have also reduced taxes on tickets to encourage audiences.
Other notable films in this regard include The Kashmir Files, which provides horrific details of the conflicts in Indian-controlled Kashmir from 1980-1989.
The film Gujarat also tells the story of the 2002 train fire that killed 59 Hindu pilgrims and sparked deadly religious riots in Gujarat.
Increased Israeli engagement with some BJP party leaders and American and French actors in India has fueled suspicions that non-Indian and non-Muslim actors are widening the divide in Indian society and between Hindus and Muslims. This destroys India's image as a country of coexistence and pushes it away from competition with the West, and also reduces the ability of Muslims to confront Israel more cost-effectively.
It should be warned that the creation of ethnic and religious differences, which is the strategy of the colonial countries to weaken other countries of the world, has been put on the agenda by the BJP. This big deception for India will have no result other than numerous political and security blows to India and its ruling party.
