What is the India story?
What the court said is elementary. If the official Central Board of Film Certification clears the film, no one has the right to ban or prevent anyone from seeing it! If the EC now pulls up the States banning the film for one reason or another, they must also pull up the BJP and the PM for misusing it as an election issue?
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The same thing was done for The Kashmir Files. Let those who want to see the film enjoy it and those who disagree with the story have the option not to see it. But that is not the case in India these days. We have seen non-state organizations stoning theatres, terrorizing the cast and directors of films, somebody deciding sentiments are hurt, etc.
The State citing law and order issue is also a no brainer. It is the duty of the state to ensure law and order and they are only advertising their incompetence or prejudice if that excuse is quoted. And please note no one dares to screen the film “The Bilkis Banoo Story ” which I have seen on social media. What is the India Story?
John Eric Gomes, Porvorim
Kerala story movie
touches on conversion
The Kerala Story movie aims to tell the tale of how women from the State were tricked and trafficked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the conflict zone of Syria. It traces the journey of female college students in Kerala who become part of the Islamic State. The film especially showcases certain cases of how ‘love jihad’ was used by ISIS to lure 32,000 women to Syria. It also shows that how men were brainwashed to woo Hindu and Christian women of Kerala in the name of love, convert them to Islam and convince them to join ISIS and other Islamic war zones. The shocking incidents occurred between 2018-19, when a rising number of Kerala youths had come under the influence of ISIS. But it shows how a well-planned approach is developed to break the faith of these girls in their gods and religion and brainwashed them into believing that Islam is the only religion for them. Even today some of them are languished in Afghanistan prison.
Some leaders are of the opinion that the movie insults the culture of Kerala and supports communal polarization. When a Hindu man marries a Muslim woman, it is always portrayed as romance and love by Hindu organisations, while when the reverse happens it is depicted as coercion. However, RTI responses, SIT investigations and Lok Sabha questions have shown that there is no legal definition of “Love Jihad”, and there is no data on such cases with the government.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Reckless driving
resulted in tragedy
It is distressing to learn that 24 people perished and over 40 sustained injuries when a speeding private bus, filled beyond capacity, veered off a bridge in Madhya Pradesh’s Khargone district. The bus could fit a maximum of 37 passengers, yet it was carrying around 70 people.
The bus broke through the protective railing and fell on the bed of the Borad River. Had it not been for the locals who rushed to the site and rescued the trapped passengers, the fatalities could have risen. Unfortunately, reckless driving is resulting in the loss of many innocent lives.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
India has dubious
record on child brides
The world will need 300 years to wipe out child marriages if the present trend continues, says a report of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Although the rate of child marriages is on a decline, the numbers have not drastically dipped, and 640 million girls are married off before they attained the age of 18. India still has the dubious record of having more than 40 percent of world’s child brides. Worldwide, conflict and poverty are two main reasons for parents marrying off their children. In India, acute poverty and the tendency to see girl as a burden have ensured child marriages continue unabated despite a reduction in their incidence.
Lakhs of girls in India are married off by the time they are fifteen let alone the cut-off age of eighteen.
Illiteracy and poverty force parents to push their children into wedlock. Education becomes the biggest casualty whereas a financially independent girl can do wonders for her own morale in later life. Early pregnancy, possibly crippling diseases, may smother the yet to mature minds and bodies. Pressure of marriage, and the responsibilities that come along with it, can drive the children to a sense of hopelessness and despair as they grow up.
The result is the abundance of “grown up children “ instead of “adults” in a society that is mainly oriented to shun its less fortunate members. The prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, like many laws in India, seems to be only on paper with the government unable to enforce the law strictly and, hence, a poor rate of convictions.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
