‘The Kerala Story producer should be hanged in public': NCP MLA Jitendra Awhad

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Awhad on Tuesday hit out at the makers of recently released film ‘The Kerala Story’, even calling for the producer to be hanged in public.

“Under the name of 'The Kerala Story', a state and its women were defamed. The official figure of three was projected as 32,000. The person who produced this fictional movie should be hanged in public”, ANI quoted the NCP leader.

The Sudipto Sen-directorial depicting the recruitment of girls by terror group Islamic State has triggered a massive political storm across the country. The film has found support in the Bharatiya Janata Party with saffron party-ruled states Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh declaring the film tax-free.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in poll-bound Karnataka's Ballari had mentioned the film, saying it exposed the consequences of terrorism in the society.

“The movie ‘The Kerala story’ is trying to expose the consequences of terrorism in a society, especially in a state like Kerala which is beautiful land of hardworking, talented and intellectual people. The Congress party is now trying to ban the film and support the terror elements", the prime minister said.
Nadda, on the other hand, had watched the film in a special screening in Bengaluru. However, West Bengal government has banned the film to ‘avoid hatred and violence’ in the state, intensifying a TMC-BJP slugfest in the state.

In another development, the Supreme Court on May 15 will hear a petition against the Kerala high court order which refused to stay the release of the film.

On May 5, the high court refused to stay the release of the movie and said the trailer does not contain anything offensive to any particular community as a whole.

(With PTI inputs)