Union minister Anurag Thakur on Monday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for banning the movie "The Kerala Story" and said it was beyond his understanding why the Trinamool Congress leader's sympathies were with terror outfits and not with innocent girls from Kerala.
Union minister Anurag Thakur on Monday hit out at West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for banning the movie "The Kerala Story" and said it was beyond his understanding why the Trinamool Congress leader's sympathies were with terror outfits and not with innocent girls from Kerala.
The information and broadcasting minister, who watched "The Kerala Story" at a cinema hall here, said the film exposed the sinister nexus of religious conversions.
The movie claims to depict the plight of women converted to Islam and recruited by Islamic State.
"Mamata Banerjee has done injustice to the sisters and daughters of West Bengal by banning the film. She should tell whether she is standing with those who promote terrorist ideology or is standing against it," Thakur told reporters here.
"It is beyond understanding why their sympathies are with terrorist organizations and not with these innocent girls of Kerala who were victims of terrorism. Today the whole country wants to ask her why she has so much problem with a film focused on terrorism," the senior BJP leader said.
Thakur said the movie was an attempt to present the truth and will create positive ripples in the country against the fight with terrorism.
He said for the first time, a film has boldly shown the dangerous conspiracy of global terrorism going on in Kerala to the world.
"The truth which the Congress and the Left have been denying to the country for the last one decade has come before us today. This is not just a film, it is a document that exposes us to the nefarious conspiracies of global terrorist organizations like ISIS against India," Thakur said.
The minister alleged that the Congress and Left parties had indulged in appeasement politics and even moved to court in defense of the terror conspiracies going on in Kerala for decades.
"Those who consider this film as agenda-propaganda, I want to say to such advocates of terrorism that today every child of the country wants to know the story of Kerala which you have been hiding," Thakur said.
Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of "The Kerala Story" to avoid “any incident of hatred and violence”, a senior official said.