Uttar Pradesh government declares 'The Kerala Story' tax-free

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday announced that it will give tax-free status to 'The Kerala Story', directed by Sudipto Sen. The announcement comes a day after the Madhya Pradesh government took a similar decision.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath made the announcement on his official Twitter handle."'The Kerala Story' to be made tax free in Uttar Pradesh," Adityanath wrote.

According to Director Information Shishir, the UP chief minister will attend a special screening of the film in Lucknow on Friday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will watch the special screening of the movie with his cabinet on May 12 in Lucknow," he said.

Directed by Sudipto Sen, 'The Kerala Story' depicts how women from Kerala were forced to convert to Islam and recruited by the terror group Islamic State (IS). The film, which was released on May 5, has kicked up a political storm.

On the day of the film's release, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had credited the movie for bringing out terror conspiracies and used it to attack the Congress during an election rally in poll-bound Karnataka.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday ordered an immediate ban on the screening of the controversial film 'The Kerala Story' in the state to avoid any incident of hatred and violence.

Multiplexes across Tamil Nadu cancelled screenings of the controversial film from Sunday, citing law and order issues and poor public response.

(with PTI inputs)