Date:14/08/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/14/stories/2008081460492400.htm

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Praise for film

London: A film highlighting the plight of some Muslims in Kerala facing citizenship problems has won praise in Oxford, where the movie was screened. The screening of Paradesi, by the cultural and political activist from Kerala, P.T. Kunhimohammad, was organised by the Muslim Educational Society of Oxford. Several academics and scholars attended the event.

During Partition, thousands of Muslims from Kerala migrated to Pakistan but returned because they could not cope with the climate and the food there. The Indian government treated them as citizens of Pakistan and tried to deport them after the expiry of their visas.

According to the Kerala government, there are over 400 India-born Pakistan passport holders staying on in the State. Most of them are in Malappuram, Kozhikode and Kannur.

Several of them, now in their old age, have been issued orders for deportation to Pakistan. Some of them have obtained stay orders from the Kerala High Court.

The State and Central governments blame each other for the plight of these “Pakistani citizens.”

The film tells the story of hundreds of people who were left as aliens in India without documents to prove their identity. Paradesi focusses on the plight of Valiyakathu Moosa, an Indian Muslim, played by Malayalam superstar Mohanlal, who moves from Malabar to Karachi during British rule in search of a job. — PTI