Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
(The article was originally published in Newschecker Hindi by Saurabh Pandey)
Claim
Kerala woman Shalini Unnikrishnan narrates the story of her conversion into an ISIS terrorist, Fatima Ba.
Archived version of the tweet can be seen here.
Fact
On carefully analysing the video, we spotted “The Kerala Story” written in the end frame of the viral clip. Taking a clue, we conducted a keyword search for “The Kerala Story” on Google which led us to multiple news reports from the past 24 hours elaborating on the teaser release of Vipul Amrutlal Shah’s movie by the same name.
Featuring actress Adah Sharma, this Sudipto Sen directorial narrates the story of how women in Kerala who are forcibly converted and inducted into ISIS. Notably, these reports displayed stills of viral footage showing the burqa-clad woman, helping us conclude that the clip is actually a movie teaser.
A Cinema Express report quoted writer-director Sudipto Sen claiming , “As per a recent investigation, since 2009 – nearly 32,000 girls from Kerala and Mangalore from Hindu and Christian communities have been converted to Islam and most of them end up landing in Syria, Afghanistan, and other ISIS and Haqqani influential areas…”
The full length one-minute-nineteen-second-long teaser of The Kerala Story was uploaded on the official YouTube channel of film production company helmed by Shah, Sunshine Pictures on November 3, 2022. The same can be seen below.
Notably, the part of the teaser where the name of director and producer is mentioned has been edited out from the viral video.
Actress Adah Sharma, who plays lead in the movie – the woman seen in the viral video, also shared the teaser of “The Kerala Story” on her Instagram account on November 3, 2022.
We could thus conclude that the viral clip showing a burqa clad woman narrating her ordeals of converting into an ISIS terrorist, Fatima Ba from a nursing-aspirant, Shalini Unnikrishnan is actually a movie teaser. The clip is being shared out of context on social media platforms.
Result: Missing Context
Sources
Report By India Today, Dated November 4, 2022
YouTube Video By Sunshine Pictures, Dated November 3, 2022
Instagram Post By Adah Sharma, Dated November 3, 2022
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Authors
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
