In the surreal public discourse created by social and visual media, outrage is the raison d’etre for an issue, event, pronouncement or policy to reach a level of criticality; that’s precisely what Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavati has acquired. By now, it is clear that there is a standard operating procedure (SOP) for sparking the ostensible “public outrage”. As per this SOP, any obscure group in any part of the country threatens violence against the creator/writer/actor of a book, film, painting, song or statement because it apparently hurts religious or cultural sentiment. This modus operandi has been the staple for most rabid rightwing groups, creating a perception that suits specific political interests. Invariably, media hype follows and court cases abound. The dust settles with the victims of these orchestrated attacks chastened and hounded, and a perception created about the majority Hindu identity being constantly under threat from a modern, liberal, secular ethos which is then pilloried for catering to the minority or “appeasing” Muslims. Such orchestrated campaigns typically display absolute disregard for the rule of law, which, sadly, is matched by the indifference of law enforcement agencies.

India’s celebrated artist Maqbool Fida Hussain was hounded out of the country by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and associated groups who heaped abuse on him for allegedly hurting Hindu sentiments. There have been innumerable instances involving fringe groups — such as the Maratha Youth Squad, which vandalised the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute in Pune in 2004 for providing scholarly support and assistance to James W Laine’s work, Shivaji: Hindu King in Islamic India . Likewise, Dinanath Batra associated once with the RSS-run Vidya Bharti and author of The Enemies of Indianisation: The Children of Marx, Macaulay and Madarsa , succeeded in getting Penguin to withdraw American scholar Wendy Doniger’s book The Hindus: An Alternative History . The same SOP is at work in the controversy around Padmavati , with similar objectives. The fictional story of a Rajput queen being traumatised by a Muslim aggressor has once again revived the Rajput Karni Sena, which had been dormant since it last burst on the national scene with similar protests against Jodha Akbar .

Politicians of all hues have joined Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje in her unfortunate bid to cater to a community vote-bank by supporting a ban on the film. The rule of law is being flouted by public calls for beheading and severing of the nose of the lead actors in the film. This regression into a feudal, backward order compromises India’s claim to be a modern democracy, and with it, its ‘soft power’ on the world stage where its entertainment industry has had a big role to play. It is time rule of law is strictly enforced. Above all, the public discourse should shift to more pressing economic concerns — be it jobs, health, education, agriculture and the business environment — than the travails of a queen in another century.

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