The Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal Government has submitted its affidavit to the Supreme Court defending the ban on the movie ‘The Kerala Story.’ The government has claimed that the movie is based on “manipulated facts and contains hate speech in multiple scenes that may hurt communal sentiments and cause disharmony between the communities.”
The state government claimed that it invoked its statutory powers u/s 6(1) of the West Bengal Cinema Regulation Act based on intelligence reports that the ‘hate speech’ in the movie “may hurt communal sentiments and cause disharmony between the communities which will eventually lead to a law and order situation.”
“During surveillance, it has been observed that the audience makes very objectionable comments whenever they see a particular scene where Hindu or Christian girls are seen tortured. It has also been observed that while coming out of movie halls people discuss among themselves to limit their interaction with Muslims and or that these Muslims ought to be taught a lesson,” the state government’s affidavit read. The affidavit also claims that alleged incidents of violence took place in other parts of India sparked by the social media posts about the movie.
The state government banned the movie on May 8. CM Mamata Banerjee said, “West Bengal govt has decided to ban the movie The Kerala Story. This is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence, and to maintain peace in the state.”
While taking a dig at ‘The Kashmir Files’, the Chief Minister stated, “What was ‘The Kashmir Files’? It was meant purely to humiliate a particular section of society. What is ‘The Kerala Story’? It is a distorted story”. The CM instructed the state chief secretary to withdraw the film from all theatres where it was playing.
The film’s producer, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, reacted to the ban and said they would seek legal recourse to challenge the State Government’s decision. Shah said, “If state government won’t listen to us, we will explore legal avenues. However, whatever course we take will be based on legal advice,” West Bengal became the first state to ban ‘The Kerala Story.’
Thereafter, the movie’s makers moved the Supreme Court to challenge the state government’s ban. The Supreme Court issued notices to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu Governments in the writ petition filed by the makers of ‘The Kerala Story’ challenging the Mamata Banerjee Government’s decision to ban the movie.
The movie maker’s counsel Senior Advocate Harish Salve submitted that the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee made statements against the movie on the release date, alleging that the movie is against a community and its exhibition can cause law and order problems. Furthermore, he submitted that the movie ran in the state without problems for three days before the state government banned the movie.
The state government’s counsel Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi submitted that the makers should approach the respective High Court, as the Supreme Court asked the parties in earlier cases to do the same and maintain the discipline. Furthermore, he claimed that there are intelligence reports regarding the law and order problems concerning the movie.
The Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud remarked, “The film is released in the rest of the country. West Bengal is not different from other parts of the Country. If it can run on other parts of the country, why should the State of West Bengal ban the film? If the public does not think that the film is not worth seeing, they will not see it. It is running in other parts of the country which have similar demographic profile as West Bengal. Why should you not allow a film to run?”
The state government’s counsel submitted that the government has the power to ban the movie u/s 6 of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act, 1954 while opposing the grant of stay. The CJI said that the Supreme Court would not pass interim order without hearing the State Government.
‘The Kerala Story’, stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Sonia Balani, and Siddhi Idnani in the lead roles. The film is produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Sudipto Sen. In the film, actress Adah Sharma plays the role of Fathima Ba, a Hindu Malayali nurse who went missing from Kerala and was recruited by ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) after being forced to convert to Islam.
PIL against West Bengal Government’s ban in Calcutta High Court
Recently, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the Calcutta High Court challenging the state government’s ban on the movie ‘The Kerala Story.’ The petitioners contend that the movie raises the issue of ‘Love Jihad’ and that a public discussion on the issue is necessary for a democracy like ours. The PIL submits that the state government’s prohibition on the movie is prima facie not maintainable as it contravenes proviso u/s 6(2) of the West Bengal Cinemas (Regulation) Act of 1954.
The PIL also submits that the movie is about the malafide acts and plots of the terrorist organisation ISIS and is unlikely to ignite the umbrage of the Muslims of West Bengal as there is no reason to presume that Bengali Muslims are ISIS sympathisers. The PIL said, “…the film deals with the malafide acts and plots of the infamous terrorist organisation namely ISIS and a story on illegal operation of such a terror outfit is absolutely unlikely to ignite umbrage of the Muslim Community of West Bengal since there is no reason to presume that the Bengali Muslims are sympathizers of ISIS and are against the interest of the Nation,” the PIL submits.
Kerala High Court’s May 5 order
On May 5 the Kerala High Court declined to pass any interim order on pleas against the release of the movie ‘The Kerala Story’. Asserting that secular Kerala society will accept the film for what it is, the High Court asked petitioners how the movie, which it observed is fiction and not history, would create sectarianism and conflict in the society. The court sought to know whether the entire trailer was against society.
“Nothing will happen just because the film is screened. The teaser of the film was released in November. What was offensive in the film? What is wrong in saying that Allah is the only God? The country gives citizens the right to believe in their religion and God and spread it. What was offensive in the trailer?” the court observed while considering a batch of petitions seeking to cancel the film’s censor certificate.
“So many movies have already come out about such organizations. There have been references against Hindu monks and Christian priests in many films before. Did you see all this in the way of fiction? What is so special now? How does this movie create sectarianism and conflict in the society?” the court observed.
