‘Panipat’ Who was Maharaj Surajmal? why Jats are protesting his portrayal ?
JAIPUR : 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.
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.” Meanwhile,The Jat community of Bharatpur is up in arms against Ashutosh Govarikar’s film “Panipa” for the incorrect portrayal of Maharaja Surajmal of Bharatpur as a “greedy” king.
The locals of Rajasthan claim misinterpretation of Maharaja Surajmal and said that it is sending out wrong message to the people about Maharaja Surajmal. The people from the Jat community have also resorted to burning effigies of director Ashutosh Gowariker demanding a ban on the film.
The movie is based on the third battle of Panipat. It shows the details about the third the battle which was fought between the Maratha empire and Afghan king Ahmad Shah Abdali in 1761.
As per the film, Maratha warrior Sadashiv Rao Bhau (a character played by Arjun Kapoor asked Maharaja Surajmal for help to defeat the Afghans, but he demanded the Agra Fort in return. As his demand remained unfulfilled, he refused to help Sadashiv.
Tourism Minister and erstwhile Bharatpur royal family and descendant of Maharaja Surajmal, Vishvendra Singh ban on the film. He lodged a protest regarding the way the character of Jat Maharaj Surajmal has been portrayed in the film.
“It is very sad that a great man like Maharaja Surajmal Jat of Bharatpur has been depicted in the film Panipat in a very wrong way while tampering with historical facts. I believe that the film should be banned in view of the huge opposition in the Jat community of Haryana, Rajasthan and North India, otherwise, the law and order of the country may deteriorate.”
He also claims that Panipat has not depicted historical facts correctly. “I am from the 14th generation of Maharaja Surajmal Jat. The reality is that when the Peshwa and Maratha were returning from Panipat after losing the battle and wounded, Maharaja Surajmal and Maharani Kishori had sheltered the entire Maratha army and Peshwas for 6 months. Even Khanderao Holkar died in Kumher, the then capital of Bharatpur, and even today his umbrella remains in the village of Gagarsoli,” the statement further read.
Maharaja Surajmal (February 1707 – 25 December 1763) or Sujan Singh was a Jat ruler of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, India. A contemporary historian has described him as “the Plato of the Jat people” and by a modern writer as the “Jat Odysseus”, because of his political sagacity, steady intellect and clear vision. Suraj Mal was killed in an ambush by the Mughal Army on the night of 25 December 1763 near Hindon River, Shahadra, Delhi.
)Bureau Report with Agency Inputs ).
