Viral video shows crowd in cinema hall pledging to boycott Muslims, draws flak
Vasai (Maharashtra) (PTI): A video, purportedly from Maharashtra’s Palghar district, showing people in a cinema hall chanting slogans and pledging to boycott Muslims socially and economically has triggered strong reactions.
Reacting to claims by a Congress MP that the viral video was shot in a cinema hall in Vasai on March 10, a senior police official from the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar (MBVV) Police Commissionerate told PTI on Tuesday that the veracity of the video is yet to be ascertained.
“We are not sure where it was shot and believe it could be mischief by some unscrupulous elements,” the police official said.
The MP claimed that the video shows a group of people taking the oath to boycott Muslims after watching the controversial film 'The Kerala Story 2'.
Syed Naseer Hussain, a Rajya Sabha member of the Congress, shared the video on X.
“In Vasai, Palghar, after a free screening of the film The Kerala Story on March 10, participants reportedly took a collective oath calling for the economic and social boycott of Muslims.
“The continued encouragement of propaganda-driven narratives under the BJP government has increasingly targeted Muslims and deepened communal polarisation. When cinema is deployed as a political instrument to stigmatise an entire community, it risks turning prejudice into organised discrimination and further emboldening anti-Muslim sentiment,” he said on X.
“India’s democratic ethos rests firmly on secularism, equality and fraternity. Calls for economic or social boycotts of any community strike at the very spirit of the Constitution of India and must be firmly rejected to preserve the plural and inclusive character of our Republic,” the MP said.
Another user @Nher_who posted on X: “In Vasai, Hindus took an oath to boycott Muslims economically & socially after watching Kerala Story. This was the only motive of the Movie which it has achieved.”
He said fuel and oil come from Muslim countries. Even maths has a Muslim contribution, he added. “Will they boycott petrol, diesel, and maths now?” he asked.
Since its release in 2023, The Kerala Story, and its sequel released in February this year, have been at the centre of intense political and cultural debate. Supporters claim the films expose uncomfortable truths, while critics argue that they exaggerate and promote divisive narratives.
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Power struggle in ruling Cong has 'created massive confusion' in Karnataka: BJP leader Ashoka
Bengaluru (PTI): BJP leader R Ashoka on Friday claimed that the ongoing power struggle between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar has created massive confusion in Karnataka.
He remarked that the proverb “when two people fight, the third one benefits” has come true, as AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge is also now making efforts to become Chief Minister.
Speaking to reporters here, Ashoka said the entire government has turned into a house of confusion due to the alleged power tussle.
Kharge’s new statement has only added to the chaos, he said.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge had on Friday said that no date has been fixed yet to discuss possible leadership change in Karnataka.
This came a day after Kharge said there was no change of CM in Karnataka "for now" and that the leadership issue in the state would be resolved soon.
The BJP leader said that Kharge too has aspirations and that he was cheated earlier.
"Perhaps he has received a green signal from the Congress high command to become CM. Everyone is already saying Kharge should become CM. Kharge himself has declared, “I am ready to become CM.” Despite many attempts in the past, he never became CM. Now he is trying to seize the opportunity," the Leader of Opposition in the state assembly said.
According to him, the situation in Congress has perfectly become a case of “two people fighting, third one benefits.”
