Thread by @HarishFc

#TheKeralaStoryMovie is a V & P movie endorsed by B & Ds. Here's a thread on how dangerously misleading the movie is 🧵 1/n

The character Shalini Unnikrishnan is based on a mixture of two real cases of Hadiya and Nimisha. The stories of Hadiya and Nimisha are totally different but we see what a dangerous cocktail it becomes when you mix them with a tinge of fiction. 2/n

First, let us look at Nimisha's story. Nimisha was a Hindu. She fell in love with a Christian named Bestin and married him. Later her whole family converts to Islam and leave for Afghanistan to join ISKP. 3/n
theweek.in/news/india/202…

She is also joined by her brother-in-law and sister-in-law who were Christians and later converted into Islam. She gave birth to a daughter in Afghanistan. Her husband and brother-in-law died in a conflict and these women then surrendered. 4/n
thehindu.com/news/national/…

An important point to note here is out of the 4 women from Kerala who surrendered in Afghanistan, only Nimisha was a Hindu before conversion and 2 others were Christians. Despite desperate appeals from Nimisha's mother, the Indian govt did not allow Nimisha to return. 5/n

Now, lets look at Hadiya's story. Hadiya was born Akhila to atheist parents in Kerala. Hadiya was also an atheist and didn't believe in any religion just like her parents. When she turned 18, she enrolled into a Homeopathy college in Salem. 6/n

She became friends with Divya, Archana, Rajan, Dilna, Jaseela and her younger sister Faseena. Together they took a flat for rent in Salem. She got influenced by Islam after watching Jaseela and Faseena and started taking interest in the religion. 7/n
indianexpress.com/article/india/…

Her curiosity in Islam led her to a Mangalore based couple. Faseena told Akhila to stay away from such people as 'they have an agenda to trap Hindu women'. But Akhila ignored her and her sister's warning and went ahead with her friendship with the couple. 8/n

She eventually decided that she would convert to Islam and adopted the name Aasiya. Her parents realized this much later when she refused to participate in a 40 day ritual observed after the death of a relative in Hinduism. 9/n

The Mangalore based couple Musthafa and Shahana took Akhila to Sathya Sarini an Islamic institute affiliated with the banned outfit PFI. She maintained that she converted to Islam on her own will and was not forced by anyone. She even married a Muslim man Shefin Jahan later. 10/n

Ashokan, Akhila's father approached the Kerala High Court, which annulled her marriage saying, “A girl aged 24 is weak and vulnerable, capable of being exploited in many ways.” This led to controversy and widespread protests. 11/n
indianexpress.com/article/india/…

However, Supreme Court stayed Kerala HC's decision in 2018. SC said NIA cannot probe into this case and Hadiya's choice of husband cannot be questioned. The SC made the following observations:

She may be brainwashed, but what can we do? Whether the man to whom she is married is good or not is for her to decide. Whether it’s an independent choice or not, only she knows. We can’t get into it. If she comes to court and says she married by her choice, that’s the end of it.

“Can there be a roving inquiry into matrimonial relationship between two consenting adults to find if there was no consent,” Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dipak Misra asked. 14/n

So despite doubts prevailing whether Akhila was brainwashed or not, she was an adult and had the right to practice the religion of her choice and marry the man of her choice. She did join ISIS or any other terrorist organization like Nimisha. 15/n

Now, add the stories of Akhila and her friendship with Jameela and Faseena or the Mangalore based couple with the story of Nimisha and some fiction, you get Shalini Unnikrishnan. This leads to three misleading conclusions:

1. The woman were forcibly converted.
2. They regret converting, marrying Muslim men and joining a terrorist organization.
3. This is the story of Kerala and non-Muslim women in the state. 17/n

The story of Hadiya and Nimisha doesn't reflect this. They don't regret their decisions. Nimisha was not brainwashed in college and had actually married a Christian not a Muslim. She was brainwashed after her marriage and has no regrets for her actions. 18/n

On the other hand, brainwashed or not Hadiya stuck to her decision to practice Islam and stay with her Muslim husband. She was not dragged into terrorist activities. Nimisha Fathima is still in Afghan prison and shows no remorse unlike Shalini in the movie. 19/n

Kerala is a multi-religious state where Hindus, Christians and Muslims coexist peacefully. Kerala is also a state where intellectual debates are encouraged and even people proudly claim that they are atheists. 20/n

The Kerala story is not even the true story of the 3 women it now claims to depict. It is a dangerous cocktail of half-truths and fiction. Kerala will not be falling prey to this propaganda, but unassuming people from other states would. n/n