Kolkata, May 6: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday ordered the banning of the screening of the movie ‘The Kerala Story’ across the state.
This order comes just hours before the arrival of Union Home Minister Amit Shah to Kolkata to take part in the birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.
Shortly after Mamata criticized the movie while slamming the BJP, West Bengal Chief Secretary H.K.Dwivedi issued instructions saying that the movie has been banned in the state in the interest of communal harmony as the subject of the movie may trigger hatred.
“This move to ban the movie is to avoid any incident of hatred and violence and to maintain peace in the state,” Mamata Banerjee said.
West Bengal is the first state to ban the The Kerala Story movie.
Mamara hit out at BJP for communalising the atmosphere in the country. “First they came out with Kashmir files. Now it is Kerala story. Next they plans to come out with Bengal files. Why is BJP trying to communalise the atmosphere? Kerala story is an attempt to defame Kerala with distorted facts,” the West Bengal Chief Minister added.
Meanwhile, BJP IT cell Convenor Amit Malaviya described Mamata Banerjee’s decision as unfortunate.
“This raises the serious question of civil liberties and freedom of expression. The movie is the real account of the victims who have endured the horrors of demographic invasion,” Amit Malaviya said in his tweet.
Reacting to the tension in Manipur, Mamata Banerjee said Manipur violence is man-made.
“They are trying to create such a situation in West Bengal. BJP is silent on social media platforms about the violence in North-Eastern state. The Home Minister must visit Manipur instead of West Bengal,” she explained.
According to Mamata Banerjee, her government has brought back 18 students from Manipur. They were flown down to Kolkata on Monday morning,” Mamata added.
EOM.
