Actor Ajay Devgn’s upcoming film Chauhaan has found itself at the centre of a fresh controversy after the Kshatriya Parishad accused its makers and Neeraj Yadav, writer and director, of attempting to “appropriate” the Chauhan clan name for contemporary communal politics.In a strongly worded statement posted on X, the organisation said the historic Chauhan lineage belongs to Rajput history and should not be used as a “political prop” or for what it described as “manufactured controversies.”“We strongly condemn the attempt by Neeraj Yadav and Ajay Devgn’s upcoming film Chauhaan to appropriate the Chauhan clan name for contemporary communal politics,” the organisation wrote.Calling the Chauhans a historic Rajput (Kshatriya) lineage, the Kshatriya Parishad said their legacy belongs to history rather than “electoral narratives or manufactured controversies of external agents.”“It is deeply unfortunate that Rajput identity is once again being dragged into a political narrative that Rajputs neither initiated nor sought,” the statement said. The organisation argued that invoking a Rajput clan name to provoke outrage, inflame caste or communal sentiments, or generate political spectacle was “irresponsible and disrespectful.”The group also rejected what it described as attempts to portray medieval Indian history through simplistic communal binaries. Citing several historical examples, it said alliances between Rajput rulers and Afghan leaders demonstrated that political relationships of the period were shaped by statecraft, military strategy and loyalty rather than religious identity.Among the examples cited were Mahmud Lodi fighting under Maharana Sanga at the Battle of Khanwa, Hakim Khan Sur commanding a contingent in Maharana Pratap’s army during the Battle of Haldighati, Sher Shah Suri’s early military association with Raja Raisal Shekhawat, and Maharaja Vikramaditya Tomar fighting alongside the Lodi forces in the First Battle of Panipat.The organisation urged political leaders, filmmakers and media organisations to engage with India’s past responsibly, saying historical memory should not become a tool for communal mobilisation.“We reject every attempt to weaponise Rajput identity for ideological ends,” it said.