Oppenheimer sex scene angers India's Hindu nationalists

A sex scene in Oppenheimer has sparked controversy in India and has also reportedly hurt the sentiments of some people who claim to be proponents of Hinduism.

The scene featuring Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh sees Murphy's character quoting a verse from the Bhagavad Gita just before sexual intercourse. The text is one of the sacred scriptures of Hinduism.

"Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds", says Murphy in the film before he continues the act. It is said that Oppenheimer recalled the line soon after the detonation of the first nuclear bomb.

The movie is based on US physicist Robert Oppenheimer's life, who is also known as the "father" of the atomic bomb. He was interested in Hinduism and also learned the Sanskrit language to be able to understand the Gita.

The film was released last Friday after India's Central Board of Film Certification Censor Board gave the film a U/A certificate. The certificate suggests parental guidance for viewers under 12.

However, a character picking up the Bhagwat Gita while indulging in sexual activity has not gone down well with Hindu nationalists and people associated with the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"This is a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus, rather it amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community," Uday Mahurkar, a senior official at the government's Central Information Commission said in a tweet.

"We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitised human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people," he added.

It also needs to be noted that Mahurkar is also the founder of a nationalist organisation named Save Culture, Save India.

After Mahurkar's tweet, it did not take long for others to join in and call for a boycott of the film. Hashtags such as #BoycottOppenheimer and #RespectHinduCulture have been trending on the platform since then.

This is also not the first time that a piece of art has managed to hurt the sentiments of right-wing Hindu groups since the BJP came to power in India. Several movies and OTT platform series have been forced to edit scenes or change dialogues over the years.

Hindu vigilante groups have been emboldened by the presence of right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party governments in some northern Indian states. Critics say that these groups are undermining India's secular fabric by making minorities a target.

These groups attack cattle trucks, track religious conversions in villages and towns, and warn Hindu girls against falling in love with Muslim boys. Prime Minister Modi has expressed no disapproval of them.

Modi is a member of an umbrella group, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which propagates an ideology of Hindutva, or Hindu-ness, which asserts India is a Hindu nation.

In 2016, members of the United States Congress wrote to Prime Minister Modi about the increasing religious intolerance in the country. They urged Modi to address "increasing intolerance and violence experienced by members of [India's] religious minority community."

The letter also mentioned the beef bans in a number of Indian states, stating that this was "increasing tensions and encouraging vigilante violence against the Indian Muslim community."

"We urge your government to take immediate steps to ensure that the fundamental rights of religious minorities are protected and that the perpetrators of violence are held to account," read an excerpt from the letter.

Human rights activists, journalists, and academicians believe that the situation in India has only worsened, and public disapprovals have not dissuaded the right-wing government from continuing to do whatever it feels is right.