Death Threats over Bollywood Film
The row over a Bollywood film based on a 16th century epic poem has turned ugly.
“Padmavati” tells the story of a fictional 14th century Hindu queen belonging to the high Rajput caste.
In the poem, Padmavati is a virtuous woman, who chooses to commit suicide on her husband’s funeral pyre.
She does this to protect her honour from the invading Muslim emperor, Alauddin Khilji, who killed her husband.
Padmavati is deified and recognised as a symbol of female honour among Rajputs even today.
Rajput caste organisation, Shri Rajput Karni Sena, has been up in arms about the film. They are furious about a rumoured dream sequence love scene between the queen and the invading Muslim ruler, as well as a scene where Padmavati has her midriff exposed.
Despite the fact that the film’s director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, has denied that this scene exists, the Karni Sena have threatened violence if the film is released.
Raj K. Purohit, a senior member of India’s ruling party (BJP), called for the film to be banned, while Central Board of Film Certification member Arjun Gupta said that Bhansali should be put on trial for treason.
Suraj Pal Amu, another senior BJP member, called for the beheading of actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the virtuous queen in the film.
Earlier this morning, a dead body was found hanging in Nahargarh Fort, with a sentence scribbled on wall nearby, stating in Hindi, “Padmavati ka virodh” (in opposition to Padmavati). The writing also included a warning: “We don’t just burn effigies, we hang them.”
Indian police said that it’s not clear at this stage who the person is or how they died.
Image: Padmavati poster [online image] (2017) sourced on 24 November 2017 from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/47/Padmavati_Poster.jpg
