Pitra, Putra aur Dharmayuddha (Father, Son and Holy War) at BFI Southbank

A companion piece to In The Name Of God, in which Patwardhan turns to history and to psychology to find possible explanations for the Babri Mosque demolition. In particular he explores the cult of Sati (in which brides are burned on their dead husbands’ pyres) as part of an extended meditation on the role that traditional patriarchy as well as present-day machismo play in feeding the hyper-aggressive Us v Them mentality that underpins Hindu anti-Muslim violence.