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Padmavat: Why Attack Innocent School Children?

Vidya Bhushan Rawat – January 25, 2018
The scene of thugs in the street throwing stones at innocent school children send a chilling message that the Hindutva groups are deliberately using the entire Padmavat controversy to mobilise their disgruntled caste groups.

In a democratic state, we have to abide by the institutions and their authorities. If the Supreme Court has cleared the film Padmavat, we don’t need to rake up controversy on it. Let us make it very clear that none of our children are going to learn history from Padmavat. Those who want to learn history from fictions and mythologies will feel offended otherwise these films particularly the Bombay cinema has nothing to offer us historically.

My reaction is not really about the story of the film in question but the way the government and politicians are responding to it and it reflect which side Indian polity is going. I wrote long back that our democracy is nothing but the chess games of the dominant communities hence Rajputs, Reddy’s, Gujjars, Jats, Marathas, Patels, will do the things they like. The fact is that you never knew about these senas but this is a deliberate attempt. I can bet that if Sanjay Leela Bhansali were not there, the media would have not taken note of it and justified the violence. Rajputs are enjoying their ‘precious’ political revival at the moment. A minuscule minority is now trying to assert itself through violent means. Democratically, Rajputs cant get anything on their ‘not so golden’ past as life long they remain mere puppet of their brahmanical masters. The fact is that the stooge of the brahmanical masters who used Manu’s rigid and rubbished laws to push for their supremacy divinely sanctified are the heroes and those who revolted against them became villain.
I can bet, this whole drama of Karni Sena is nothing but a political game to ensure the momentum and communalise the atmosphere. The Sanghis are riding over it but if the other communities too start behaving and thinking about their own then the Sanghi game plan will boomerang on them. We know well the whole aim is the convert these entire narratives into Hindu and Muslim theory and bring all the communities behind them. Whatever the urban elite may say, Sangh and Rajputs in particularly benefited from these stunts politically. But it is not that Rajput politicians have been like that. Prior to Sangh’s entry into Rajputs, most of them were politically inclined towards the Janata family and people of social justice. Sangh’s Hindutva agenda has countered the progressive Rajputs today. It is not for unknown reasons that V P Singh, Arjun Singh and Digvijay Singh are hated for their open stand against communalism and for their social justice agenda. That apart, even a person like Chandra Shekhar was far superior to the street leaders today who are crying for the heads. If you have to see how the young rabble rousers have been created with the foul speaking against Muslims through the street language are Yogi Aditynath, Sangeet Som, V K Singh, Daya Shankar Singh who abused BSP leader Ms Mayawati as BJP made his wife Minister now. Even the Saharanpur’s whole crisis was created for the same and rather than taking action against the goons who burnt the houses of the Dalits, the government continue to take action against Chandra Shekhar Azad and others of the Bheem Army. In the 1980s, Rajput leaders in Rajasthan had supported the Sati. Their leader kalyan Singh Kalwi was a supporter of it but that did not influence politics elsewhere and it was confined to Rajasthan. Today, an event from film has been used to ‘organise’ the ‘community’ all over the country and perhaps attempt are there to bring ‘those’ who till date were never ‘Rajputs’ but always ‘aspired’ to be like them to ‘show’ your ‘strength’. Their numerical strength may not be there but muscle power is visible everywhere and this is an attractive thing for political parties of all hues who wish to use this for their political gains.
The irony is that even the Dalit OBC political parties did not stand with Chandra Shekhar Azad and Bheem army while there was no condemnation by the political parties against the Rajput rampage. The same thing is happening now. The Rajput organisations have completely gone berserk because the political patronage as the Sangh is promoting those who can shout loudly and end of the day convert the entire Padmavat debate into a Hindu Muslim binary. I can bet, ultimately that is the agenda and even Bhansali could be a part of it. I dont think the film can hurt the sentiments of Rajputs. In fact, those who have seen it suggest it glorify the feudal values and false valour.
Now V K Singh as well as Digvijay Singh are saying that we should not ‘hurt’ the feelings of the community and no right to ‘distort’ history. How can those who are converting mythologies into history ever complain that somebody is distorting history. Bhansali is not Salman Rushdie who can take the religious gangs and his film would be just glorification of the Rajput pride and nothing beyond. It is not surprising that most of the political parties have kept quiet on the issue. As the rogues enter into the newsrooms and bring Muslims into every question, the trends need to be understood. It is not merely the Rajput issue but the Sangh is not keen to make the ‘media’, art or creativity to look a bit ‘different’. You only have to surrender fully and Muslims and Dalits, adivasis will always shown as villain and further strengthen a stereotype among the people who were not ‘Hindus’. So all the sins of the Rajput Rajas and their chelas are washed in the falsification of history. No community can gain anything with such street lumpenism but more than that no state or government will get any legitimacy.
It is time we deal this issue as a law and order issue. Arrest those loudmouths openly abusing and threatening people and engage in violent activities. But the government will not do so. Those who use people’s sentiments to increase their vote bank as they know it well that elections are looming large and rather than debating demonetisation, law and order, employment, impending banking crisis, violence on Dalits and other marginalised, issues of women, law and order in BJP ruled states, we are now debating about an issue which the courts have cleared.
V K Singh says that people’s opinion must be respected and I ask him whether his government respect Muslim community’s opinion on triple Talaq. You want to ‘sudharo’ everyone else except the berserk communities who are playing havoc with our country and only justifying the varna system. Brahmanism is dying but such ignorant communities will take it on their soldiers without getting any benefit from it. Parshuram threatened the Rajputs to kill their seven generation yet the sorry state of affair is that they are still dedicating their lives for the brahmanical values. The government must assert rule of law and bring the situation to normalcy. It can’t push India to anarchy and chaos. Don’t use these unrest for your political gains as you may win the elections but India will ultimately be the loser.