So we have a new film Censor Board led by a fringe group called Karni Sena, while other members of the board include the BJP chief ministers, a silent Congress Party, powerful Rajput community and a mute Centre. The violent events in the past few days before the release of the controversial film Padmavat show where India is going in the 21st century fighting in the streets for what happened or did not happen in the 14th Century. All this when ten Asean leaders are in the capital to witness the Republic Day parade showcasing India’s might.

The appalling thing is that the so-called fringe elements have taken control of the situation and did not spare even school kids in Gurugram and elsewhere. Buses are burnt, commuters are harassed, schools are closed, malls are shut, multiplexes shun the film for fear of hooliganism, shops are shut and all this with the silent support of BJP-ruled governments in states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. The Centre remains mute.

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The Padmavat controversy is not confined to the film alone. It has historical, legal, political, social and religious angles. The film tells the story of 14th century Muslim ruler Alauddin Khilji’s attack on the Mewar kingdom after the beauty of its queen Padmavati smote him. While Khilji is a historical figure, historians believe that Padmavati is fictional. Two centuries later, it was a Sufi poet Muhammad Jayasi, living thousands of miles away from Mewar who mentioned it in a text named Padmawati. But the Karni Sena claims Padmavati is a historical figure and that the producer has hurt Rajput sentiments.

What is the Karni Sena? It is a politico-cultural outfit of the Rajputs named after Karni mata. The Karni Sena spearheaded by Lokendra Singh Kalvi has emerged as group to protect Rajput unity. They started as an outfit with college students from Shekhawati as their core followers in 2006 and the issue of the Padmavat movie has united them now. They have gone to the extent of offering a bounty on the heads of producer Sanjay Leela Bansali and lead actor Deepika Padukone. The controversy started when the Karni Sena attacked the film producer while he was shooting the film in Rajasthan in January 2017.

Even after the film was cleared by the Censor board the Sena would not allow screening this month. Despite the Supreme Court’s green signal for all-India screening of Padmavat, Karni Sena chief Kalvi declared, “We are adamant on our stand that this film should be banned. January 25 may come and go but we won’t let the film release, come what may.” The Karni Sena has also drafted Rajput women into their cause by putting them up to commit jauhar (mass self immolation.) Kalvi has asked the Sena to get ready for bullets and arrests trying to make them martyrs. Interestingly the Karni Sena leaders are still scot-free.

The legal angle came after the Supreme Court stepped in and ordered that the film be screened all over India which is now being contested by the BJP ruled states. The Karni Sena is defiant.
The political class, particularly the BJP and the Congress in the northern belt, are opposed to the film for the sake of vote bank politics. Chief ministers like Yogi Aditryanath (UP) Shivraj Singh Chauhan (Madhya Pradesh) Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan) and Manohar Parikkar (Goa) have even made statements rallying opinion against the film to whip up caste and religious sentiments. When the Karni Sena was set up, it was close to the Congress and once the BJP came up, it switched sides.

After the Patidars moved away from the BJP in Gujarat, the saffron party needs the support of the Rajputs for the upcoming Assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Congress too is keeping mum because of the upcoming elections in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chattisgarh and other states. The Rajputs of all parties are united on this issue.

On the social side, the Karni Sena, the BJP and the Congress are using the caste angle to stoke violence. Any attack on Karni Sena is being seen as an attack on the Rajputs. Also after the abolition of the Privy Purses, the clout of erstwhile Rajput rulers has declined resulting in insecurity among them. The religious angle is the Hindu-Muslim story. Using a communal dichotomy to gain votes is not new to Indian politics.

It was indeed a good thing that except the four or five BJP-ruled states in the north; the rest of the country is not opposed to the release of the movie. The producer must have heaved a sigh of relief when filmgoers lined up to watch the film on January 25. The BJP ruled governments have been exposed in their greed for vote bank politics, not bothering about governance. Putting the onus of law and order on the filmmakers and creative artists is not the way out of this situation. There are many ways to stop the protests. Politicians need to understand that they cannot use an artist’s work as a scapegoat or as a means for their own electoral mobilisation.

The moral of the story is that the caste and politics still dominate the country to the exclusion of rule of law, freedom of speech, citizens’ rights and protection of institutions. This must change.