Thiruvananthapuram Jan 31 (IANS) Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the makers of The Kerala Story 2, alleging that the teaser of the film was part of a planned attempt to spread communal hatred and undermine Kerala’s secular fabric.​

He said the State would resist such divisive efforts in a united manner.​

In a statement issued after the teaser of the second part of the controversial film was released, the Minister said the movie had been conceived with the objective of injuring Kerala’s secular conscience through deliberate communal polarisation.​

He described the film as a propaganda exercise with no connection to facts and accused its makers of manufacturing false narratives for political purposes.​

Saji Cherian, who is also the Minister for Films, alleged that the film was yet another product of what he termed the Sangh Parivar’s “falsehood factory”, aimed at portraying Kerala, widely regarded as a model of religious harmony, as a hub of religious extremism.​

Such an attempt, he said, was intended to tarnish the State’s image before the rest of the country and the world.​

The Minister pointed out that the film sought to revive discredited allegations such as “love jihad” and used hate-filled dialogues to disturb the peaceful social atmosphere in Kerala.​

He said the repeated projection of unsubstantiated claims reflected a calculated move to create fear, suspicion, and division among communities.​

Emphasising that freedom of expression cannot be misused as a licence to divide society, Saji Cherian said that many of the claims propagated through the film had already been rejected by investigative agencies and courts.​

Repackaging such discredited narratives as facts amounted to a politically motivated exercise aimed solely at electoral and ideological gains, he added.​

The Minister asserted that Kerala’s people had always stood firm against communal forces and would continue to do so.​

Attempts to sow the poisonous seeds of hatred for narrow political benefit would be strongly resisted by the State with unity and resolve, he said.​

–IANS

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