Renowned Indian content creator Dhruv Rathi says his wife has received hate messages and rape threats over a video he posted a few days ago criticizing the anti-Muslim film "The Story of Kerala".
In a tweet posted on his Twitter page, Rathy said: "This is the kind of messages my foreign wife has been receiving over the past few days. The first 3 messages I received on Instagram, the last of which is a sample email. The irony is that these people probably think they care about women and the development of the nation."
On May 11, Dhruv Rathi, who has 30 million subscribers on his YouTube channel, posted a video titled "The Story of Kerala... True or false?" he refuted the film's claims, including forcing <>,<> Hindu women to convert to Islam and sending them to fight with the Islamic State.
The video has garnered about 14 million views so far, which exposed his family to harassment, to the extent of threatening his wife with rape and burning to death, as he put it.
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Journalist and anti-Islamophobic activist Alishan Jeffrey commented on what happened with Rathi: "I don't agree with everything Dhruv Rathi says, but his video about the story of Kerala shook the whole system, so they unleashed a propaganda war by posting thousands of videos, messages and tweets to defame him."
I don't agree with everything that Dhruv Rathee says but his video on the Kerala story has rattled the entire ecosystem. He seems to have hit the nail on the head. They have unleashed a propaganda war (thousands of reels, posts, videos, tweets) to defame him.
— Alishan Jafri (@alishan_jafri) May 21, 2023
Dhruv Rathi has received many messages of support from prominent activists and bloggers, with activist Fatma Khan saying: "I wish you more strength brother, I watched the video you posted about the Kerala Story movie, you are a person who makes an effort to open the eyes of the nation."
More Power to you bhai saw your video on The Kerala Story. You are an eye opener to the nation. 🇮🇳 https://t.co/o85X8Rnchv
— Fatima Khan (@afficasm) May 18, 2023
Indian writer Mahima Vashisht criticised those who attacked Rathi's wife, saying: "They believe they have the upper hand intellectually and morally when they cannot disagree with a man without threatening to rape his wife."
You know you have the intellectual and moral upper hand when you cannot disagree with a man without threatening to rape his wife. https://t.co/FZHNLMp5Zj
— Mahima Vashisht (she/her) (@mahimavashisht) May 19, 2023
Film "Kerala"
The Indian film "Kerala" tells the story of 4 Hindu and Christian women in the southern Indian state of Kerala, who were recruited for the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, and the filmmakers claim that about 32,<> Hindu women were forced to join the organization.
The film was released in theaters on the sixth of May, and sparked negative feelings towards Muslims in India, and was directed by Sudeep Tosin and missed the top stars of "Bollywood".
The film was praised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, where the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power, exempted the film from tax, leaving tickets to sell cheaply.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee banned the film from being screened in the state "to avoid any incident of hate or violence", describing it as a "distorted story", but the Kerala High Court refused to ban the film in the state where the action takes place, saying it was "inspired by real events".
The screening of "Kerala" comes about a year after the screening of the film "Kashmir Files", which raised the issue of Hindu migration from Kashmir in the nineties of the last century, portraying it as a "genocide".
Two years ago, the Indian Prime Minister's government abolished autonomy guaranteed by the Indian Constitution for Kashmir.