London: A film highlighting the plight of Muslims facing the problems of citizenship in Kerala was screened at a function at Oxford University.

The film, 'Pardesi', was screened by political and cultural activist, P.T. Kunhimohammed.

The function was organised by the Muslim Educational Society of Oxford (MESO) and was attended by leading academicians and scholars.

The film highlights the plight of hundreds of Malayali Muslims in Malappuram district of Kerala who were forced to live as fugitives in their own homeland as circumstances had made many of them citizens of Pakistan.

During India's partition, thousands of Muslims from Kerala migrated to Pakistan but returned later. The Indian Government treated them as citizens of Pakistan and tried to deport them after the expiry of their visas.

When India and Pakistan were born, many of these citizens continued to work in Pakistan but their families remained in Kerala.

The story revolves around the fact that the war made those, who had accepted Pakistani citizenship, foreigners in their own land.

The story of 'Pardesi' unfolds though the life of 80-year-old Valiyakathu Moosa who moves from the Malabar region of Kerala, to Karachi, during the British rule in search for a job.