oppn parties The Kerala Story: Is Banning The Right Thing To Do?

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The Kerala Story: Is Banning The Right Thing To Do?

By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2023-05-09 07:06:29

The West Bengal government has banned the controversial film The Kerala Story in the state. It was running on 94 screens in the state and has been withdrawn with immediate effect. The state government has said that the scenes and the story of the movie, allegedly defaming one community, can cause disharmony between communities and may even cause riots. Hence as a matter of abundant precaution, the film was not being allowed to be screened in the state. The film was earlier taken down by the distributors in Tamil Nadu and made tax-free in Madhya Pradesh.

This once again shows that politicians with whatever ideology - Left, Right or Centre - are not immune from the disease of banning films, books, works of art or even lectures, comedy shows and the like as per their personal preferences. The Modi government was rightly taken to task by the opposition for banning the BBC documentary on the Gujarat riots. But by banning The Kerala Story, opposition-ruled states have shown they are also the same. Any film that has been certified for public viewing by the CBFC should ideally be allowed to be screened in an unrestricted manner.

The film is being screened all over the country, even Kerala, without any report of any disturbances. It is a fictionalized version of what the makers claim to be true events. The reviews are not good with most critics calling it a badly-acted rant. It is upon the viewer to decide if the film deserves to be seen. They must be given the choice to see it. Banning anything is not a solution and the earlier politicians understand it the better. If democracy thrives when different voices are allowed to be raised and if the Modi government is rightly criticized for suppressing dissent, the banning of The Kerala Story in West Bengal shows that deep inside, most politicians do not want to hear or see something they do not like and use their power to to stop their constituents from seeing or hearing the same.

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