‘Padmaavat’ row: Karni Sena wants its six-member panel to watch ‘Padmaavat’ before the release

On Wednesday the Karni Sena, who have been against Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s magnum opus ‘Padmaavat’ and has been leading protest as well named six-member panel. The panel includes erstwhile royals and historians, to watch the film ahead of its release date, as many of the outfits were demanded to be banned. But the Supreme Court refused the order and cleared with a nationwide release.


Rajasthan minister Gulab Chand Kataria, said that after the apex court order, the state government had no option left but to maintain law and order. The police have begun making arrangement for the release of the film. As per the letter from the production house of the film the Karni Sena chief patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi said that the outfit had named six persons to watch the film before its release


The leader of the Karni Sena said that the six members were Historians R S Khangarot, B L Gupta, Kapil Kumar, Roshan Sharma and erstwhile Mewar royal family member Vishwaraj Singh and erstwhile Banswara royal family member Jagmal Singh. Khangarot is the principal of Agrawal college in Jaipur, B L Gupta is a retired professor of the history department of the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur while Roshan Sharma is a Jaipur based historian. Kapil Kumar is a Delhi-based historian.


Kalvi said, “We know that the filmmaker is doing nothing but drama in the name of pre-screening. We were never against the film’s screening but he should make sure that the suggestions our members give should be considered and changes should be made accordingly.”


President of the Karni Sena Mahipal Makrana said, a Janta curfew will be imposed and roads and highways will be blocked as a protest. President of Jaipur based Rajput Sabha Girraj Singh Lotwada said, “An undeclared emergency like the situation has emerged where our sentiments have been set aside. After the Supreme Court’s decision, we now request the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter. The Centre should bring an ordinance within 24 hours to stop the film’s release.”


Lotwada said that former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had once recited a poem on Rani Padmavati in the Parliament and now the BJP government should bring an ordinance to protect the legendary queen’s honour. Additional Police Commissioner, Jaipur, Nitindeep Blaggan said, “We have demanded additional force to maintain law and order.”


Stay tuned for more updates.