A Kshatriya organisation on Monday objected to the teaser of the upcoming Hindi film Chauhaan, saying that it was “irresponsible and disrespectful” to use a Rajput clan name to inflame caste and communal sentiments.

The organisation, the Kshatriya Parishad, said it “rejects every attempt to weaponise Rajput history or appropriate Rajput identities for electoral or ideological purposes”.

The film Chauhaan, directed by Neeraj Yadav and starring Ajay Devgn, is slated for release on October 1, 2027. The teaser depicts scenes from a 2018 demonstration in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama, with a voiceover by Devgn saying pellet guns and water cannons caused only “limited damage” and were merely “temporary solutions” against protesters who throw stones.

The voiceover adds that an “answer is on its way” for the protesters after 75 years, saying, “tell the Pathaans: Chauhaan is coming”.

The teaser sparked widespread criticism from Kashmiris on social media. Many questioned the description of pellet guns as causing only “limited damage”, noting that thousands were injured by such guns in Kashmir, especially between 2016 and 2019.

The Kshatriya Parishad on Monday said it was unfortunate that Rajput identity was “once again being dragged into a political narrative that Rajputs neither initiated nor sought”. It said that at a time when Rajput voices are underrepresented in mainstream media, it was inappropriate to invoke a clan name from the community only to provoke outrage.

The organisation also noted that the subcontinent’s history could not be reduced to “simplistic communal binaries”, citing examples of Afghans and Rajputs fighting alongside one another. “These episodes illustrate that medieval political alliances were shaped by statecraft, loyalty and military strategy – not by the communal narratives being imposed upon them today,” it said.

Among those who objected to the teaser of Chauhaan on social media were Kashmiri political leaders. National Conference MP Ruhullah Mehdi remarked that while the teaser described pellet guns as ineffective, they in fact left behind thousands of shattered lives.

“Official figures acknowledge that over 6,200 people were injured by pellet guns during the 2016–17 unrest alone, including hundreds with devastating eye injuries,” the Srinagar MP said.

The MP further remarked: “For those who lost their eyesight, those who still live with pellets lodged in their bodies, and the families who continue to bear those scars, this is not an action sequence or a cinematic backdrop. It is lived trauma.”

National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar said that the teaser was full of content that could incite violence in Kashmir. “Mocking children and young prople who lost their eyesight, some even their life, and opening up old scars of their families is nothing short of a spiteful agenda against Kashmiris,” he said.

Written by Neerad Pandharipande. Edited by Sara Varghese.