Will lay siege to Chennai theatres screening ‘The Kerala Story’, says Seeman

CHENNAI: Naam Tamilar Katchi (NTK) coordinator Seeman condemned the ruling DMK government for allowing the release of the controversial film 'The Kerala Story' on Friday and said that the party will lay siege to Chennai theaters if the film is not banned in the State.

Seeman, took to his official Twitter handle and shared a two-page statement that read, "'The Kerala Story' promotes the Islamic community and its people in a bad light, which is highly condemnable. It is a shame that the ruling DMK government has allowed the release of the film even after intelligence reports." (sic)

"After the establishment of the Modi-led BJP government in the Indian Union, it cannot be considered arbitrary that films that insult Muslims and the Islamic religion have been coming out continuously in the last 9 years. It appears to be a ploy by the Hindutva to retain power by using art as a tool to divide people in the name of religion."

"Following the release of films -- 'The Kashmir Files' 'Burqa' and now the film ' The Kerala Story' disintegrating a particular religion is unacceptable. We respect religion, worship, food, clothing, etc as the fundamental rights of every individual. No one, including the government, has the right to interfere or denigrate it."

Earlier, reports stated that there were no major incidents in the city in regard to the release of the film. Police sources said that minor commotion was reported at a couple of locations and the agitators were detained. According to police sources, Muslim groups gathered outside Multiplexes in T Nagar and in Royapettah and tried to create a stir. They were rounded up within minutes and detained in a community hall.

On Friday, Islamic organisations gathered around the theatre in Coimbatore and protested against the film, and complained that it encourages hatred towards minorities. Various youth outfits in Kerala also staged demonstrations against the film's screening.

A day earlier, Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP), C Sylendra Babu had issued instructions to all commissioners and superintendents of police in the state to provide security outside theatres screening the film, based on intelligence reports about protests and agitations outside the halls screening the movie.

On May 4, the Madras High Court dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a ban on the film.

The film stars Adah Sharma, Yogita Bihani, Siddhi Idnani, and Sonia Balani in the lead roles and is written and directed by Sudipto Sen.

The trailer of Sen's film came under fire as it claimed that 32,000 girls from Kerala went missing and later joined the terrorist group ISIS, but, the makers later tweaked the number of missing women in the film from 32,000 to 3. The same is now being reflected in the updated description on the official trailer of the film on YouTube.