Kerala HC serves with notices regarding Manju Warrier’s Aami for ‘justifying love jihad’

The Kerala high court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre, Central Board of Film Certification and director of the biopic on controversial writer Kamala Das and sought their replies on charges raised in the petition seeking a ban on the Malayalam film for “supporting and justifying love jihad”.

KP Ramachandran said in his plea filed on Monday that the film, directed by Kamal and starring Manju Warrier in the lead role, glorifies conversion and related incidents and omits some of the “painful incidents in her real life.”

“Such films are getting released at a time when there is a hot debate on “love jihad” and central agencies are probing it,” he said.

Born Kamala Madhavikutty in 1934, Das converted to Islam at the age of 65 at the behest of a 38-year-old Muslim man and became Kamala Suraiyya. The move created a furore in both the communities.

Ramachandran also claimed that Das was one of the first victims of the so-called “love jihad”. He added that she wanted to come back to the Hindu fold before her death but some fundamentalist elements foiled this.

“She was allegedly enticed to the religion by a young leader feigning love. In the end, she was forced to lead a solitary life,” he said.

“Love jihad” is a term popularised by radical Hindu groups to describe what they believe is an organised conspiracy of Muslim men to force or trick Hindu women into conversion and marriage. The purported motives include expanding India’s Muslim population and aiding the Islamic State.

Many cases of so-called “love jihad” have been reported from the southern state. A 24-year-old woman born in Kerala accused her husband Mohamed Riyaz, a native of the northern part of the state, earlier in January of forcibly converting her and hatching the conspiracy to sell her as a ‘sex slave’ to the Islamic State, which is active in parts of Syria.

Ramachandran also said that certain pro-radical scenes were depicted softly and sought a direction to the CBFC to ensure that the film, to be released on February 9, would be certified only after making sure that it depicted the real life of the writer.

The film’s director could not be reached for comments.

The film based on Das’ autobiography “Ente Katha” (My Story). Vidya Balan was initially offered the role but later backed out citing differences with the director.

Source : Hindustan Times