‘32000 Kerala women in ISIS’: Misquotes, flawed math, imaginary figures behind filmmaker’s claim (Alt News)

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The trailer of a movie titled ‘The Kerala Story’ was released on April 26. Soon after this, multiple Twitter users shared it urging people to watch the movie.

Hindutva activist Kajal Shingla alias Kajal Hindustani (@kajal_jaihind) shared the teaser of the movie saying the film was ‘based on real incidents’. (Archive)

A verified user with username @Stroke0Genius18 tweeted the trailer noting that the film was a ‘true story of Love Jihad-Kidnapping-Rape-Murder-Blackmail-Extremism-Terrorism…’ (Archive)

The teaser of the movie was widely shared on social media when it was released in November, 2022. In it, a burqa-clad woman recounts her past as a Hindu named Shalini Unnikrishnan who wanted to be a nurse. She then says that she is currently an ISIS terrorist lodged in an Afghanistan jail, and goes by the name Fatima Ba. Fatima also says that there are 32,000 girls like her who have been converted to Islam and sent to Syria and Yemen. “A dangerous game is on in Kerala to convert normal girls to dangerous terrorists, that too in front of everyone’s eyes,” she adds.

Many users shared the teaser saying/implying that it was the actual story of a woman from Kerala. Some used the hashtag #TrueStory.

Directed by Sudipto Sen and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, ‘The Kerala Story’ claims to unearth the happenings behind 32,000 women who went missing in the state of Kerala.

Sharing the teaser of the movie, Sen tweeted, “Shalini, Geetanjali, Nimah & Asifa marked my lifeline since last 5yrs. Choking me till I tell their stories. Soon u’ll get to see a film which u never imagined, in ur remotest imagination. Thank u Ambikaji, @YaduVJkrishnan@sunshinepicture & Vipul A Shah from bottom of my heart.” (Archive).

In a conversation with ANI published in ThePrint in March 2022, Sen further said, “As per a recent investigation, since 2009 – nearly 32,000 girls from Kerala and Mangalore from Hindu and Christian communities have been converted to Islam and most of them end up landing in Syria, Afghanistan, and other ISIS and Haqqani influential areas! Despite accepting these facts, the government is hardly contemplating any definitive action plan against such huge international conspiracies led by ISIS-influenced groups.”

The character of Fatima, seen in the teaser, is played by actress Adah Sharma. She also shared the viral clip with the hashtag #TrueStory…

This story was originally published in altnews.in. Read the full story here

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