Engage With The Community

AS THE NATION celebrated its 69 th Republic Day, an unseemly spectacle was playing out in various states — an outfit called Karni Sena was holding the state and people to ransom over the film Padmaavat.

- Suman K. Jha

A group formed in 2006 to fight “for the rights of Rajputs”, was attacking schoolchildren, public properties, and theatres, because “it thought the Rajputs had been portrayed unfairly in the film”.

There were charges that various state governments failed to — or refused to — clamp down on this fringe group. There were demands as to why Prime Minister Narendra Modi didn’t comment on the issue.

Earlier, last year in the state of Gujarat, the agitation of Patidars spiraled out of control. The erstwhile dominant caste of Gujarat demanded reservations in jobs and education. While the government of the day failed to meet their demands, the group, under the leadership of a young leader, aggressively campaigned against the state government and the BJP, and the agitation continues till date. What is interesting is that many observers felt that the quota demand had more to do with the lack of jobs and opportunities in the state, rather than the backwardness of the said community.