After the film 'The Kerala Story' has stirred a controversy, Kerala High Court on Friday refused to stay the release of the controversial film which hit theatres today. However, the producer of the movie, Vipul Amrutlal Shah agreed to remove the teaser which claimed that over 32,000 women from Kerala were recruited to ISIS, from their social media accounts.
While refusing to stay the release of the film, the Court observed that the film only says it 'inspired by true events', according to a report by LiveLaw. "There is something called freedom of speech and expression. They have artistic freedom, we have to balance that also", Justice Nagaresh orally stated, according to the report.
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Separate pleas had been moved in the high court seeking a stay on the release of the movie.
Justice Nagaresh asked Kadam from where did they get the figure of 32,000 women being converted. Kadam replied that the numbers were based on the information which the makers got; however, he agreed to remove the teaser, which made the claim, the LiveLaw report said.
Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan slammed the makers of 'The Kerala Story' film, claiming that it is a propaganda film aimed at communal polarisation and conducting a hatred campaign against Kerala.
In a statement, Vijayan said that the trailer of the Hindi film, at first glance, appears to be "deliberately produced" with the alleged aim of creating communal polarisation and spreading hate propaganda against the state. "What is seen in the trailer, that 32,000 women in Kerala have been converted to Islam and recruited to the Islamic State is an absolute lie. Such a story is the product of Sangh Parivar's lie factory," he said.
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(With inputs from PTI)
