Protest against movie ‘Panipat’ for showing king Suraj Mal ‘in bad light’

The ‘Jat Mahasabha’ protested against the recently released movie ‘Panipat’ in Agra on Monday. Demanding a ban on the film’s screening in the cinema halls of the

The ‘Jat Mahasabha’ protested against the recently released movie ‘Panipat’ in Agra on Monday. Demanding a ban on the film’s screening in the cinema halls of the city, members of the organisation said it portrayed ‘Bharatpur Maharaja’ Suraj Mal in a bad light.

HT Image

The members presented a memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister and the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh at the office of the district magistrate of Agra.

Kunwar Shailraj Singh, national vice-president of the Akhil Bharatiya Jat Mahasabha, said, “Maharaja Suraj Mal has been portrayed poorly, which affects the sentiments of people. He has been presented as a greedy and comic ruler. This is unacceptable to us. The king of Bharatpur was invincible and is revered by a lot of people in India.”

Singh said his organisation was demanding that the Agra administration should not allow the movie to be screened in the cinema halls here. “However, if no heed is paid to our warning, the Jats will protest against the screening of the film and not allow it to run,” he said.

Another protester Surendra Chaudhary said, “The movie has harmed the image of the powerful king and made fun of him. It is a complete disrespect to the ruler and his followers.” He also said that action must be taken against the filmmaker for playing with history and portraying it incorrectly.

Maharaja Suraj Mal or Sujan Singh was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in Rajasthan from 1755 to 1763.