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“I have never heard of beef being force fed in Kerala,” said Jacob Thomas, Kerala’s former Director General of Police (DGP) who is currently an active member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). He was referring to a controversial scene in the teaser for the upcoming The Kerala Story 2, in which a Hindu woman is forced to consume beef by her Muslim in-laws.
On February 20, TNM sat down with Jacob Thomas for an interview. He spoke at length about his affinity to the RSS as an organisation, and explained how he, as a Christian man who is part of the Sangh, views the Hindutva attacks on Christians in the country. As a former high-ranking cop from the state, he also shared his perspectives about the film franchise The Kerala Story.
The former cop elaborated, “I have never come across anybody being force-fed any food item against their will or received such complaints.” According to him, since the tagline for The Kerala Story 2 says ‘Beyond the Borders’, one cannot assume that everything shown in the teaser is from Kerala.
On the exaggerated claims and disinformation peddled in the film’s prequel, Jacob Thomas said, “Film is an entertainment medium, and in docu-fiction movies, there will be exaggerations. Titanic is a movie; it is a historical fact that the ship Titanic sank in the Atlantic Ocean. But then we don’t know about the love story. Like that, there may be many exaggerations in this film too. Sometimes, the names are changed, or the numbers are also. If it is 32, it can be 32,000 in movies,” he added. He was referring to the filmmakers’ initial claims that 32,000 women from Kerala were languishing in jails abroad after having been deceived into converting to Islam. The claims were later fact-checked and disproved. They later corrected the claim, reducing the number to three.
‘Religious conversion happened in Kerala’
“Islam promotes conversion from other religions. Christianity also does that,” Jacob Thomas said, in answer to a question about the overblown allegations of forced conversions in The Kerala Story film franchise.
He went on to state that Kerala has witnessed incidents of young people converting to Islam. “There have been many instances of girls and boys from Kerala being taken to ISIS camps in Syria and other regions, such as Afghanistan. We cannot deny that there has been human trafficking from Kerala to radical extremist organisations and Islamic groups in Gulf countries," he said.
Reports of religious conversion had come in from districts like Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Ernakulam during his time in the police department, Jacob Thomas added. “Since Kerala has no anti-conversion law, police can only act if there are complaints,” he said.
“When someone converts to Islam through deception, allurement, instilling fear, or any fraudulent means, it is definitely illegal and should be strongly discouraged,” he added.
Christian cop turns RSS pracharak
On October 1, 2025, Jacob Thomas made an appearance at a public event wearing the RSS uniform ganavesham. Speaking with TNM at the time, he had revealed that he has been connected to the RSS since the late 1990s, highlighting that he has always been a sympathiser, even during his time as a civil servant in Kerala.
Less than two months later, incidents of Hindutva groups attacking Christian prayer groups and carollers were reported from across the country, including Kerala. When asked about his views on the attacks, he attributed it to the “questionable methods” followed by fringe Christian sects. “Even us, mainstream Christians, do not support them, in an educated state like Kerala. So why would others?” he asked.
One of the reasons why Christians face attacks in other states is the prevalence of anti-conversion laws, he claimed. "There are anti-conversion laws in some of those states, and some people are trying to do illegal conversion,” he said.
Anti-conversion laws are state-level regulations aimed at managing religious conversions by prohibiting those achieved through force, fraud, coercion, or marriage. While there is no national law on this matter, 12 states currently have such legislation in place.
"In Kerala, there is a trend of conversion among mainstream, traditional Christians like Syrian Christians, Jacobites, Marthomites, or Orthodox, to Pentecostalism and groups like Jehovah's Witnesses. Some of these conversions may occur outside the state. This behaviour is not appreciated by mainstream Christians, and it raises concerns about how it would be accepted in less educated and predominantly non-Christian states like Maharashtra or Madhya Pradesh," he paused.
He added that any attacks related to this, such as those against Christmas prayers or carols, should result in a police case being filed. "If there is an attack, a police case must be registered, and an investigation should definitely occur. I believe that police action is being taken wherever such attacks happen," he said, adding, “If that does not happen, they should come to people like us.”
‘Wore RSS uniform to remove stigma’
It was towards the end of his career in Kerala Police that Jacob Thomas began to engage publicly with the RSS. Prior to that, he said, he could not be visibly involved in any organisation. When he wore the ganavesham to the RSS’ centenary celebration in Ernakulam in October last year, he said his goal was to remove the stigma of being an RSS person in Kerala’s society. “My goals are to remove the stigma about RSS in Kerala in the minds of people,” he said.
“The proper way of attending an RSS function is in uniform. In Kerala, till that time, there was a stigma about being part of the RSS; it was not a positive evaluation to be associated with the RSS. So, I thought I should confront that public image of being an RSS member,” he added.
Jacob Thomas also addressed the speculation surrounding his candidacy in the upcoming Kerala Assembly Election. He stated that accepting a candidacy is both a responsibility and a duty for every party member, emphasising the importance of working for the party's benefit. He explained, "The BJP aims to increase its vote share, so anyone who can attract more votes to the party may be asked to contest."