We watched The Kerala Story yesterday. There are several scenes that are etched in my mind … A deeply emotional story is told clinically without attributing blame and not vilifying any community except the terror outfit ISIS. The director Sudipto Sen and all the actors in the movie deserve a standing ovation and several awards.
If anyone watches the movie with an open mind, they will see the menace for what it is – luring young Hindu and Christian girls to become sex slaves for ISIS. The numbers are staggering, upwards of 30,000 girls from Kerala have been deceitfully converted to Islam and then shipped to Syria, Afghanistan etc.
Love Jihad is real. Whatever anyone wants to say, there is a mountain of evidence. Just like Dr. Jaishankar, our EAM said to some journalist that Bilawal Bhutto, the Pakistani EAM must “wake up and smell the coffee”, its time Hindu and Christian parents woke up and smelt the coffee in Kerala.
The Plot
Four young girls share a hostel room at a nursing college. One is a Christian, two are Hindus and one is a Muslim girl. It starts off as fun and games, with the Muslim girl slowly trying to establish the supremacy of Islam.
The movie answers the question of how young non-Muslim impressionable minds are radicalised with help from a committed group of fanatics. The staged incidents where a Muslim comes to their aid, the fear of hell and the biggest of all …. knowledge of the Koran and using it to effectively show Hindu Gods and Goddesses in a poor light.
When their Muslim friend says, your Bhagwan Rama couldn’t save his wife and had to take help from the Vanar Sena the Hindu girls had no counter :(. At least the Christian girl asks her to shut up when she tries to say “why didn’t your God come to the rescue of his son Jesus”. The inclusive nature of Hinduism is being used effectively to diminish its worth. The restrictive practices in Islam are being shown as superior and providing social safety.
The movie traces the life of Shalini through her deceitful conversion, getting married to a random guy, having the child of another man and then becoming a sex slave for ISIS. The horror of repeated rapes and dehumanising of a woman is evocatively shown. When you see the ISIS terrorists taking turns to go into a tent to rape Shalini, as a woman, you shrivel. Any woman wanting to defend the ISIS is a monster, period.
After Notes & Lessons
Huge lessons for Dhimmi Hindus on how to raise their children. I cringed when the two Hindu girls said “we don’t believe in any of these rituals of Diwali etc…. it’s just about eating sweets” because that’s exactly what I would say till 5 years back :(. Not because I didn’t enjoy Diwali but because Hinduism allows me to say that and still continue my spiritual search. I am “free” … not “forced” to pray or follow “a” God.
I am shocked to see how women help in recruiting sex slaves for the ISIS and are a big part of this network. How could they send another woman into a living hell ? It’s probably because they don’t undergo the repeated rapes except when they get divorced and then are subjected to the practice of “Nikkah Halala”.
While writing this blog I remember the Last Girl … Genocide Review – The Last Girl. This is the terrible story of a Yezhidi girl and the horrors that’s visited upon this tiny non-islamic community by ISIS. Do read the book if you haven’t already.
The Kerala Story is real, just as the Yezhidi story is real and ISIS is a scourge that has to be wiped out of the face of this Earth, if there is a shred of humanity left.
Do read “Book Review – A God Who Hates” to understand the actions of the radical fundamentalists. It gives you a glimpse into the life of a Muslim woman in Syria and the Sharia law in action.
Lastly do read the following Twitter thread by my dear friend Arun, who watched the movie with his elder daughter. As he says –
Arun’s Thread –
My last thought on this movie – it should be part of the school curriculum and every college going kid should watch it. It’s not against Islam, it’s against ISIS, a terror outfit and how innocent girls are being trapped. Think of it as education against terrorism.
#TheKeralaStory #MovieReview
Yet to watch this must-watch movie! I want to share my frustration on how true acts of terror and factual information about such acts are prevented from having a wider reach. Out of a misplaced sense of hurting a community’s sentiments. Nadia Murad went through hell and back with ISIS-inflicted torture. It is so critical that she shares her experiences so that scores of young girls can be saved from such a life. However in 2021 the Toronto District School Board cancelled an event where she was invited to speak, citing Islamophobia as a reason!!!! The most utterly absurd thing to use as an excuse.
I completely agree that any individual who supports the kind of “conversion” that is depicted in the movie and ruins young girls’ lives, is no less than a monster. They have a special place in the deepest dredges of hell. In fact individuals or political parties that have protested against or banned the movie are also no less – because they are indirectly preventing facts from reaching people.
Bravo the team that is associated with the film! It takes courage to tell the truth, especially when opposition is almost a given!
I can’t speak for anyone except myself, but I distrust anyone who claims to have answers for me. The monotheistic religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam, all promote exclusivity, and they all have their fanatics, whether overt or secretive.
It saddens me to know there are those who will willingly abuse their power and others’ trust or gullibility to trap them into such degradation as sex slavery. Perhaps the young and especially young girls are most vulnerable to such trickery.
I know little about Hinduism but respect its recognition of multiple spiritual entities but without a dominant and domineering master god.
As you say, the beauty of Hinduism is its inclusiveness. ISIS may be a fanatic, political version of Islam, but I believe you feed fear and hate by focusing on it.