The DMK’s election season film Parasakthi is under fire from its ally, Congress. Tamil Nadu Youth Congress vice-president Arun Bhaskar said the film misrepresents facts and invents conspiracies. Scenes showing Congress leader Indira Gandhi visiting Coimbatore on February 12, 1965, and being welcomed by a train on fire are false. Indira Gandhi did not visit Coimbatore on that day. Bhaskar called these “ahistorical scenes” and asked for their removal and an apology. Parasakthi’s key plot shows student leader Chezhiyan, played by Sivakarthikeyan, opposing Hindi imposition by gathering students and facing armed fire near Pollachi. The film claims around 200 Tamils were killed in Pollachi by the Congress government, but Bhaskar said there is no proof. He stated, “The claims made in the ‘end credits’ of the film — in which the photographs of Congress leaders such as Kamaraj, Indira Gandhi, and Lal Bahadur Shastri are shown with a dubious claim that around 200 Tamils were killed by the then Congress government in Pollachi — have no proof.” Archival reports show that only 66 people in all Tamil Nadu died in police firing by February 15, 1965. Indira Gandhi did make an unscheduled visit to Madras on February 12, but meetings with Congress leaders were in Chennai, not Coimbatore. She returned to New Delhi the same evening. She affirmed that the Union government’s Hindi policy was agreed to by non-Hindi states and assured protection for non-Hindi speakers. On February 12, 1965, the army fired on violent crowds in Pollachi, killing at least 10 people, according to reports in The Hindu. The Chief Minister then, M. Bhaktavatsalam, later clarified that machine guns were not used. The film’s depiction of events and claims related to the anti-Hindi riots have stirred controversy with the Congress demanding corrections. The Hindu has reached out to filmmaker Sudha Kongara for comments but is yet to receive a response.