The upcoming Sanjay Leela Bhansali film Padmavati, which has now been rechristened to “Padmaavat”, has really got on to the nerves of certain elements of our society.
The protest against this movie which the aggressors claim, “distorts history” saw radical elements issuing bounties against Bhansali and Deepika Padukone. What heightened the drama was the fact that certain Kshatriya women threatened to commit Jauhar (self immolation), if the movie was released.
This hysteria started to take a dangerous turn after it was reported that members of the Rajput Karni Sena ransacked a school in in Jaora town of Ratlam district, for playing a song from the movie during its annual function. This rampage by about 24 men sent panic into the hearts of parents, young children and created a stampede like situation at the venue.
When the Home Minister of Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Bhoopendra Singh was asked about this episode, rather than servery condemning the criminals, he proceeded to possibly justify their actions:
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/953633332503363585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
As seen above, the minister is quoted as asserting that since Padmaavat was banned in the state, people shouldn’t play its songs and if someone does so, it must be reported to the police.
This inexplicable view of the Home Minister, which is routinely enforced into practice in Communist and Islamic countries, resulted in many social media users expressing outrage:
https://twitter.com/punj_pradeep/status/953633700213809152?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/GorwayGlobal/status/953694081825366016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/divya_16_/status/953684495827329025?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/PadmajaJoshi/status/953653754305196032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/Sharanyashettyy/status/953650795848716288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Possibly to much relief of social media users, this statement of the Madhya Pradesh Home Minister might be rendered moot, as Supreme Court has now suspended the orders given by the four states to ban the film. Thus going by the Home Minister’s logic, no ban on the movie is equal to no ban on the songs.