Kochi: The producers of ‘The Kerala Story’, a movie slated for release on May 5, changed the film’s trailer on YouTube on Tuesday after it ran into a controversy for claiming in its previous version that 32,000 women had left the state to join the terrorist group IS.

According to the latest trailer, shared on production banner Sunshine Pictures’ official YouTube page, it’s “a compilation of true stories of three young girls from different parts of Kerala...Thousands of innocent women have been systematically converted, radicalized and their lives destroyed...”

The film’s first teaser, released last November, claimed it presents “heart-breaking and gut-wrenching stories of 32,000 females in Kerala!” That claim quickly set off a storm, with the CPM-led LDF and the opposition UDF demanding a ban on its screening. IUML’s youth wing announced a reward of Rs 1 crore to anyone showing proof of 32,000 girls becoming IS members.

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New Delhi: Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind on Tuesday moved the Supreme Court seeking a ban on release of the film ‘The Kerala Story’ on the ground that it made false claims about 32,000 women being converted to Islam through allurement and then sent to fight for terror organization Islamic State (IS) along with a storyline that is sure to drive a wedge between Hindus and Muslims.

In the petition, Jamiat’s Mumbai-based 89-year-old legal cell secretary Gulzar Ahmed Azmi said the movie gave the message that apart from radical clerics who indoctrinated non-Muslims, seemingly friendly and educated Muslim youngsters were also secretly working to lure and convert non-Muslims at the behest of terrorist organizations.

Earlier in the day, while hearing a matter pertaining to hate speech, a bench of Justices K M Joseph and B V Nagarathna had refused to entertain a similar plea and said the petitioners should move the appropriate forum. “This film has got certification and has been cleared by the censor board. It’s not like a person getting on the podium and starts giving uncontrolled speech. If you want to challenge the release of the movie, you should challenge the certification and through appropriate forum,” the bench said.

Meanwhile, a PIL was moved in the Kerala high court seeking a stay on the movie’s release. The HC, after hearing brief arguments, listed the matter for hearing on May 5, the day the film is scheduled to be released.

The Jamiat petition in the S C, moved through advocate Ejaz Maqbool, claimed that the film demonized the Muslim youth and said its release would adversely impact the social relationship between the two communities and spread hatred, enmity and suspicion. It pleaded for a complete ban on release of the movie in theatres and OTT platforms on May 5.

“Alternatively, direct the Central Board of Film Certification to identify incendiary scenes and dialogues so that the same may be removed from ‘The Kerala Story’; and direct that the movie be released with a disclaimer that it is a work of fiction and the characters in the movie bear no resemblance to any person living or dead,” it said.

“The movie clearly demonizes the entire Muslim community, particularly educated young Muslims. It also seeks to spread false and malicious propaganda regarding the number of people who have joined ISIS from India. Experts and responsible government sources agree that the number is between 100 and 200. The number of people who actually joined ISIS is reportedly 66. Therefore, the figure of 32,000 is obviously wrong,” it added.

The Jamiat said an investigation by Kerala police in 2009 found that there was no evidence of ‘love jihad’ in the state and that no such conspiracy existed to convert non-Muslims and cited reports, mostly by Muslim authors. Quoting the Kerala CM’s 2012 speech in the assembly, the Jamiat said,

“The CM had said 7,713 people were converted to Islam during 2006-2012 as against 2,803 conversions to Hinduism. Among those converted to Islam during 2009-12, as many as 2,667 were young women of which 2,195 were Hindus (82%) and the rest were Christians. The chief minister had stated that there was no evidence of forced conversions in the state and the fears about love jihad were baseless.”