THIRUVANANTHAPURAM : As campaigning for the Lok Sabha poll moves to the second phase, the two leading political fronts have met with an unexpected stumbling block.
Days after the ruling CPM and the Opposition Congress moved the Central Election Commission against Doordarshan’s telecast of the controversial movie, The Kerala Story, three prominent factions of the Catholic Syro Malabar Church have come forward to screen the movie among the faithful.
While the LDF and the UDF were caught completely off guard, the BJP seems to have found an unexpected lifeline.
The decision by the Church leadership to screen the movie has come as a setback to both LDF and UDF, both of whom are highly critical of the movie. Leaders of the two fronts continue their tirade against the movie, but stopped short of criticising the Church leadership fearing erosion of their respective Christian support base.
Speaking in unison, both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Congress veteran A K Antony warned the people not to fall into the trap set by the Sangh parivar. Antony said the telecast of the movie on Doordarshan was part of a deliberate attempt to create communal polarisation. He requested people not to fall into the trap set by the BJP.
Speaking to the media in Kollam, Pinarayi insisted that the the film was part of the Sangh parivar’s agenda of targeting minorities, which extends beyond just the Muslims. “The RSS is targeting all minority communities. The RSS is trying to turn them against one another. Don’t fall into that trap, and don’t be part of the Sangh parivar agenda. This movie is said to be the story of Kerala. But it is full of blatant lies. Kerala is a land of brotherhood. We have been trying to develop such a land since the Renaissance period,” said the chief minister.
Criticising the screening of the film as part of an attempt to malign Kerala’s image, he added, “They seek to portray Kerala as a hotbed of communalism, which is far from the truth. Ours is a society where people of all castes and creeds coexist peacefully,” he said.
Meanwhile with elections harldy two weeks away, the Church move has come as a major boost to the BJP-led NDA. Social commentators feel this could reflect in the coming Lok Sabha polls. The whole discussion over what’s termed as ‘Love Jihad’ would benefit the BJP, observed social commentator M N Karassery.
Of late, there’s loss of trust and subsequent distance between the two religious factions due to many factors like the Hagia Sophia issue. There are attempts to create a divide between the Christian and Mulsim communities. The Church is approaching this as a social issue, he pointed out. “It seems as if the Church is executing BJP’s agenda. Unfortunately, this would only deepen communal polarisation in society. Though we may not be able to assess the extent, it’s sure to have some kind of impact in the coming Lok Sabha polls,” he added.
The Idukki diocese of the Syro-Malabar church screened the film as part of an awareness session for students in Sunday classes. As per church officials, the film was screened to raise awareness among teenagers against the misuse of love.
