Vipul Shah, the producer of ‘The Kerala Story’ brings forth 26 girls who were radicalised
Press conference held in Mumbai by ‘The Kerala Story’ production team
Mumbai – Currently, we are being accused of spreading propaganda through our movie ‘The Kerala Story’, but in reality, the audience is responding enthusiastically to this film. However, to prove our depictions we are introducing today 26 women who were victims of this conversion. This is not just a story on Kerala, but the current situation all over India. Vipul Shah, the producer of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ asserted that ‘We have brought the story of thousands of girls to the fore through 3 girls in the film’. He made the above statements when speaking at a press conference in Mumbai.
The experiences of the victims, as narrated in the press conference –
1. Anagha Jayagopal, one of the victims, said, “I was converted two years ago. My situation was similar to Shalini’s from the movie. Our hostel was full of girls like Asifa from the movie. They used to confuse us by bringing in religion in every conversation. As I had no knowledge of my religion, I could not present my case. She used to say, “There is only one God and he is Allah”. She gave me the Hindi version of the Quran. After reading it, I succumbed to her words and became anti-Hindu. I left my family and fully embraced Islam. When there was puja at home, I used to pray on the terrace. I had also vented out my anger on my cousin’s daughter because she was not allowing me to pray.
2. Chitra, another female victim, said, “Not only girls but boys also have become victims of conversion. Those who got converted completely left their Hindu families. After noticing changes in their children the families started taking them to ashrams. Now they want to hide their identity.
3. Another victim called Shruti said that the Arsh Vidya Samaj helped the converted girls. An estimated 7,000 people have been repatriated from 1999 to 2023. All of whom had converted to Islam. ‘300 of these converted girls will be given facilities in the Arsh Vidya Ashram.’ Vipul Shah has personally donated more than 51 Lakh rupees to this Ashram. Vipul had said that the intention behind making this film is to save those girls by any means necessary.
Out of the 26 girls, only two-three girls shared their experiences. Some of the girls had covered their faces in order to hide their identity.
(Credit : Times Now)
The intention of the film is not to hurt the sentiments of any religion – Director Sudipto Sen
This movie is not intended to hurt the religious sentiments of any religion. In fact, every dialogue and scene is based on reality. Apart from India, Love Jihad is being carried out in many countries. In reality, terrorism defames Islam. How the name of Islam is being misused here is what we are trying to convey through this film.
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