Dear Karni Sena, You Do  Not Represent Me, You Never Did, You  Never Will

Dear Karni Sena,

Namaskaar.

I  have something  to  tell you. I sat riveted  to  Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s  Padmaavat and  while  my entire consciousness  was subsumed  in  the splendour, a part  of  my  subconscious also wondered at  the brutal attack that SLB had to suffer  in  the  hands of your organization which supposedly  espouses  the Rajput community’s  interests.

Dear Karni Sena, I am not a Rajput. I am an Indian. And a Hindu. And a responsible  citizen of India. I pay all  my taxes and have never broken the law even in passing while you Sirs, have repeatedly thumbed your supposedly lofty noses at  the law of the land by attacking  a film which had been cleared  by the highest authorities  of the government of India.Even when the Supreme Court gave it a go-ahead you continued  your attacks on the film ,its director and  leading lady with unconstitutional impunity.

Well, Sirs, having seen the  film I want to tell you, you were way off the  mark. You were lying to the  public by accusing Padmaavat of being anti-Rajput. Far  from it, the film is a glorious celebration of the Rajput community’s bravery and fierce commitment to the sovereignty  of  the nation. Suggesting that Padmaavat was anti-national and an insult to theRajput community is akin to calling the song Ae mere watan  ke logon  anti-patriotic. You were in fact alleging the exact opposite  of what Padamaavat has done. It salutes  the  bravery  of a community. You said it insulted  the community. You were lying.

Now tell us, Dear Karni Sena, who will pay for all the  damage, physical and emotional, that  you caused the  film and its director? How will you make amends for your uncouth attempts to jump  into the jauhar fire with  a whooping joy that children express when they dive into the swimming pool.

You swam into the deep end and waded into totally unfounded utterly conjectural moral policing on behalf of a community that  totally disowns  you.

I sat with Rajput friends to watch Padmaavat. They all had tears in their eyes as they watchedShahid  Kapoor and Deepika Padukone  fight off the boorish foreign  invader with every drop of their  blood.Their  spectacular sacrifice  to  make our nation what  it us has not gone  unrewarded.Sanjay Leela Bhansali has made  sure  of  that.

We  all stood and applauded at  the end  of the  film. Never  have we felt more proud to be Indian, more happy to be watching a  film that celebrates  the valour of  the warrior class with such glorious authority.

Dear Sevaks,I have a question  for you.What were  you thinking while attacking this magical mystical ode  to the spirit of gallantry ?  Or were  you not thinking at all? Now that the  truth is out in the public domain,what will you protest against?Maybe you can  now protest against  Padmaavat’s failure to give you any genuine reason to protest.

All the best for your  future tirades.

Subhash K Jha