Empuraan row: Why BJP, RSS seem to be in a double role

At the same time, BJP actor-turned-MP and Union minister Suresh Gopi dismissed the whole thing Tuesday, saying: “What is the controversy? It is all business… playing with the psyche of the people and making money. That is all.”

The BJP’s dilemma stems from Kerala’s demography, where Christians and Muslims together comprise nearly half the state’s population. As it seeks to build on its presence in the state, the party needs to attract at least one minority group towards it, which means softening its shrill Hindutva edges.

Since Muslims are unlikely to move towards the BJP, the party has been focusing on wooing Christians, ignoring the fact that until recently the Church was accused by the Sangh Parivar of religious conversions. Christian apprehensions about “growing” Islamist fundamentalism have been fanned by the BJP as one way into what used to be a Congress vote bank.

However, hardline Hindutva groups in Kerala have not been very happy with this, with many of the opinion that the BJP is going the extra mile to win over Christian votes at the cost of Hindutva concerns.

The Sangh Parivar hence seized on the Empuraan row, with the movie a high-profile vehicle for it to push a Hindu issue. So even though the BJP refused to get dragged into the issue in the beginning, RSS-affiliated weekly magazine ‘Organiser’ published three articles on its website coming down heavily on the movie and its director Prithviraj Sukumaran.

Sangh Parivar leaders point to the fact that its protests had got a film star of Mohanlal’s stature and fandom to tender an apology, and the producer to agree to cuts despite censor clearance, as proof of the success of its protests.

The censor certification too had left the BJP on the backfoot in relation to the Sangh as several members of the regional board for film certification are believed to have links with it.

Hindu Aikya Vedi state president R V Babu, who was one of the first prominent Hindutva faces to come out against the film, said they welcome the controversy for highlighting the Godhra train fire incident, which preceded the 2002 riots, as it “had never got due attention in Kerala”.

“We will definitely get more support from the Hindus in Kerala now. Let there be more discussions. In Kerala, there is a tendency to whitewash Islamic attacks and find justification for Hindu massacres. We cannot agree with the depiction of a section of the people (Hindus) as perpetrators of violence. We have exposed this now,” said Babu.

He also attacked the regional censor board for clearing the film, saying: “Let the persons concerned look into the matter. It has to be probed how these persons became board members and who promoted them or supported their nominations.”