Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Chief Executive, Pinarayi Vijayan, decried Doordarshan’s choice to air “The Kerala Narrative” and urged the national broadcaster to retract its decision to showcase the contentious film, cautioning it could heighten communal discord leading up to the Lok Sabha elections.

He further implored the public broadcaster to abstain from serving as a “propaganda conduit” for the BJP and RSS. “The move by @DDNational to broadcast the film ‘Kerala Story’, known for instigating polarization, is profoundly reprehensible. The national news broadcaster ought not to be a mouthpiece for the BJP-RSS coalition and should rescind its plans to air a film that only serves to exacerbate communal tensions preceding the general elections.

“Kerala remains resolute in its resistance against such malevolent endeavors to foster animosity,” Vijayan expressed in a statement on X. Doordarshan has revealed its intent to broadcast the film on April 5th. The ruling CPI(M) also released a statement urging the public broadcaster to reconsider its decision to air the film.

The party urged it not to align with the “BJP’s efforts to polarize” the secular fabric of Kerala. The state secretariat of the CPI(M) accused the BJP of scheduling the broadcast of the controversial film as the general elections approach, aiming to further their political objectives as the saffron party faces difficulties in making headway in Kerala.

“This amounts to a direct challenge to Kerala. The release of the film had sparked vehement protests. The censor board itself had excised 10 scenes from the film,” CPI(M) asserted. A public sector broadcasting service should not acquiesce to the “BJP’s endeavors to polarize” Kerala’s secular society, it contended.

The Kerala High Court had declined to halt the release of the film last year, asserting that the movie trailer did not contain anything offensive to any specific community at large. The court had affirmed that the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had evaluated the film and determined it to be fit for public viewing.

The film’s trailer faced severe backlash and was legally challenged for “falsely” alleging that 32,000 women from Kerala had been converted and radicalized, and were deployed in terrorist operations both domestically and internationally.

The BJP had alleged an unofficial ban on the film in the state’s theaters. Strong protests were staged by the CPI(M) and Congress against the film upon its release in 2023.