A raft of Islamists on Tuesday (May 9) attacked a social media user after he shared a screengrab from the recently released movie ‘The Kerala Story‘, asking girls to be wary of religious zealots amidst them.
“If you are a part of any group like this…RUN!” a Twitter user who goes by the handle @erbmjha tweeted, along with the picture from The Kerala Story of a group of girls, with one of them dressed in a burqa, who plays the character of an ISIS terrorist in the movie, recruiting unsuspecting women for waging jihad for the Islamic State.
If you’re a part of any group like this.. RUN! pic.twitter.com/qbfGTRiZig
— BALA (@erbmjha) May 8, 2023
The tweet predictably raised the hackles of several Islamists, including Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair, infamous for dog-whistling against Nupur Sharma last year that triggered Sar Tan Se Juda rallies across the country, leading to the deaths of at least 6 Hindus, including Kanhaiya Lal, Umesh Kolhe, and others.
Zubair juxtaposed @erbmjha’s latest tweet on ‘The Kerala Story’ with his old tweet expressing gratitude to PM Modi for following him on Twitter. The co-founder of Alt News, known for his tendency to distort and manipulate statements to serve his agenda, alleged that the tweet was intended to dissuade girls from befriending a Muslim girl, and the Twitter user is proud of being followed by the Prime Minister.
While Zubair tried to insinuate that the Twitter user was encouraging girls to avoid being friends with a Muslim girl, he conveniently missed out on revealing that the image was from ‘The Kerala Story’, a movie that showcases the horrors of Islamic radicalisation and how vulnerable women are targeted by Islamists, including women, in their goal of converting the non-Muslims and brainwashing them for terrorism.
The woman in question, as highlighted by the Twitter user, plays the character of an ISIS terrorist tasked with the responsibility of recruiting women to disseminate the Islamic State’s ideology and enlist them for the organisation’s jihad to establish a Muslim caliphate in the world.
The Twitter user cautions girls from being friends with folks working for terror outfits like ISIS and urges them to dash if they come across anyone who resembles the terror recruiter shown in the movie.
But instead, Zubair manipulated it to play the Muslim victimhood card and unwarrantedly linked PM Modi to ‘hate’ perhaps because the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ depicts the harsh reality of the menace of Islamic radicalisation afflicting society.
Nevertheless, the targeting of the Prime Minister over a post made by a random social media user reflects the deep-seated hatred of the Prime Minister and the sting caused by his mention of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ during his election rallies in poll-bound Karnataka, another Southern Indian state in the throes of Islamic fundamentalism, especially with the hijab controversy when Islamists vigorously defended the deeply oppressive and patriarchal practice of veil.
Earlier last week, PM Modi spoke about The Kerala Files at a public rally, annoying Islamists and leftists who had been staunchly opposing the movie and attacking it as propaganda, even though it depicts the reality of ISIS brides, corroborated by many Western publications and media houses that covered the Islamic State.
PM Modi’s mention of the movie naturally angered the Islamists and leftists since he has a greater reach due to his popularity, high position and significant responsibilities, and what he says has more acceptability and credibility than a bunch of whiners ranting and raving on Twitter and other social media platforms badmouthing the movie.
With the Prime Minister throwing his weight behind a film that brings to the fore a social evil less talked about, the Islamists are perturbed that his endorsement would draw more people to the theatres and acquaint them with the reality of Islamic radicalisation that they had sought to sweep under the rug and dismiss it as the figment of non-left’s fertile imagination. The likes of Zubair and his ideological compatriots are distraught that they would no longer be able to hoodwink people with manipulations, gaslighting, and other forms of psychological perversions after PM Modi referred to the movie in his speech.
From making overtly false claims against the movie, attacking it as propaganda to dismissing the sufferings of the women as imaginary, from obsessing over the number of victims of love jihad to the dismissal of Islamic radicalisation by ISIS, Islamists thought that they could silence the non-left, especially the Prime Minister, and chip away at the credibility of ‘The Kerala Story’ movie by shouting Islamophobia, playing Muslim victimhood, and employing other such ruses.
But the Prime Minister threw a curveball at them by invoking the movie in his political rallies and drew the attention of a large section of the population who may have been indifferent or unaware of the film. The movie has had a fantastic weekend, smashing records and having a stupendous box office collection, beating the likes of commercial and big-budget films such as Shehzada. Word of mouth, chiefly after PM Modi’s mention of the movie, has contributed towards pulling crowds to the theatres, enabling a virtuous cycle of positive reviews reinforcing its box office performance.
The Kerala Story touches upon several aspects of the perils of Islamic radicalisation: how sleeper cells act as the agents of terror outfits to lure unsuspecting and vulnerable people for terror activities, love jihad where non-Muslim women are lured into a relationship by men who conceal their identities, the scourge of religious supremacism that mandates the believers into bringing the entire world under the fold of Islam, and so on.
But most importantly, the movie has been one of the few honest attempts to depict the problem facing the country without watering it down with ‘secular’ filters and diluting the essence and import of the story. It has been the chief cause of anxiety among the Islamists that their jealously guarded truth about radicalisation has come out in public. And the Prime Minister’s mention of the movie has also only served to rattle them further.
