West Bengal, 18 May 2023 (GNP): The Supreme Court of India has stayed a ban imposed by the West Bengal state government on The Kerala Story, a film that the state authorities said could disturb public peace. The Kerala Story – set in the Southern state of Kerala – had generated controversy months before its release.
The film’s makers had approached the court against the ban, arguing that the film was based on years of research and was not propaganda. The court has also asked the film to carry two disclaimers – one stating that it is “a fictionalized version of events” and another clarifying that there is no reliable data to support the claim that 32,000 women from Kerala state had joined terror groups.
The film had sparked outrage and legal challenges for making this claim in its teaser. The filmmakers modified the teaser later on YouTube. The court has said that it will watch the film before hearing other petitions against it in July.
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After West Bengal had announced the ban, some filmmakers and several leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had criticized the move. The BJP is in power nationally but is in the opposition in West Bengal, which is governed by the Trinamool Congress.
Two state governments – Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, both governed by the BJP – have made the film tax-free.
The court has also directed the authorities in Tamil Nadu state to provide security at theatres to screen the film. The film had faced a “de facto ban” in Tamil Nadu as multiplex owners had decided to stop showing it due to protests and low audiences.
Causalities following clashes over film:
This week, authorities in the western state of Maharashtra arrested over 100 people following communal clashes over film that resulted in one fatality and eight injuries.
