Man found hanging from Nahargarh Fort with the words 'Padmavati ka virodh' raises many questions
The Padmavati controversy has taken another turn for the worse, with a man now dead, his body found hanging off the parapet of the Nahargarh Fort in Jaipur.
The Deepika Padukone-starrer Sanjay Leela Bhansali film has since the very beginning been in the eye of controversy. From the sets being vandalised to the filmmaker being assaulted to threats of mutilation and even bounties on the heads of the actors and director, the film has seen an extraordinary amount of backlash from Hindus, especially the Rajput community, who feel that the film portrays Rani Padmini in a bad light.
The film has also incurred the wrath of multiple BJP politicians, many of whom are state chief ministers who have announced that the film will find no audience in their respective states.
The threats and the political backlash, however, have been sidelined with an actual death. According to a CNN-News18 report, right beside the body of the young man who was found hanging off the parapet of Jaipur's famous Nahargarh fort, a charcoal graffiti on the wall read, "Padmavati, hum sirf putle nahi latkate (Padmavati, we hang not just effigies)." The words "Padmavati ka virodh (Protest against Padmavati)" were also found next to the body.
The man has been identified as Chetan Kumar, a 23-year-old from Jaipur, who was identified after the cops found his Aadhaar card. According to the police, he was "strangled" using a plastic wire.
Speaking to CNN-News18, Rajput Karni Sena President Mahipal Singh Makrana – the man who had threatened to chop off Deepika Padukone’s nose – said: “This could be a suicide. This is not our way of protest. We condemn this."
Could this be a suicide?
The police are still investigating. However, speaking to India Today, a police source said that it could not have been a suicide. "It doesn't look like he was alone. It would take more than one person to tie the rope around the fort parapet and the embrasure," the source added. A police officer, according to India Today, claimed this may be the work of anti-social elements.
There is also a possibility that this was an unrelated death that is being used by pressure groups to further fuel the controversy over Padmavati. After all, in this extremely polarised tinderbox of a country, it takes but one spark to rouse communal forces. One can no longer doubt that the situation has gone out of hand.
Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, who seems more concerned with what the movie supposedly portrays needs to be the questioned about the blatant flouting of law and order in her state. While she is busy writing the information and broadcasting ministry urging that Padmavati must not be released without including the changes demanded by various protesting groups, a shocking incident like this in her backyard should bring priorities into focus.