Slogans against the film Padmavati were found close to the body of a man found hanging in Nahargarh Fort near Jaipur on Friday, ANI reported.
One message on a rock said, “Hum sirf putle nahi latkate [We do not just hang bodies]”, while another said, “Padmavati ka virodh [Against Padmavati]”.
The nature of the man’s death and its connection with the protests against the film have not been established yet, and an investigation is under way.
From his Aadhaar Card, the man was identified as 40-year-old Chetan Saini and he was strangled using a plastic wire, News18 reported.
The Rajput community in Nangloi area of Delhi on Friday protested against Padmavati.
Delhi High Court dismisses petition against film
Meanwhile, the Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a petition demanding that a panel be formed to check whether Padmavati distorted history, PTI reported. The court called the petition “hopeless” and “misconceived”, and an encouragement to protestors.
The petition was filed by a group claiming to be a political party called Akhand Rashtrawadi Party. It wanted the film to be vetted by a panel headed by a retired High Court judge and consisting of a social activist and historians.
The High Court said the Central Board of Film Certification would decide on the film’s release. The Supreme Court has already refused to interfere in the controversy.
Controversy and threats
Padmavati, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapoor, has been in the midst of a controversy since January, with Rajput groups and others accusing Bhansali of distorting history.
In the past few weeks, Padukone and Bhansali have received threats. Mahipal Singh Makrana, Rajput Karni Sena’s state president, openly threatened to chop off Padukone’s nose for her role in the film. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s chief media coordinator for Haryana, Suraj Pal Amu, announced a Rs 10-crore reward for anyone who beheads Padukone and Bhansali. After these threats, Viacom18 Motion Pictures – the co-producers of the film – said they had decided to “voluntarily defer” its release. The movie was scheduled to be out on December 1.
Lawyer ML Sharma had moved the Supreme Court asking for the “objectionable scenes” to be deleted, but the court said, “We cannot interfere with the Central Board of Film Certification’s work.”
The Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh governments have already banned the film, and various chief ministers have issued statements objecting to it.
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