AntiPadmaavat protests intensify ahead of release
MISPLACED ‘PRIDE’ Fringe outfits block roads, burn vehicles, enforce ‘janta curfew’ JAIPUR/AHMEDABAD/LUCKNOW/ BHOPAL:
Sporadic incidents of violence including burning of vehicles, blockade of traffic and stopping of trains was reported from different parts of the country on Wednesday, a day before the release of Sanjay Leela Bansali’s Padmavat, a period film being opposed by Rajput groups claiming it undermines Rajasthan’s Queen Padmini.
Cinema hall owners in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and parts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana announced that they would not screen on Thursday, the Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh starrer based on the 13th century battle between Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji of Delhi.
“We are not going to show the movie as our and citizens’ security are at risk,” said Gujarat cinema owners association in a statement, a day after violence by alleged Karni Sena members at four malls in Ahmedabad, where more than 150 two-wheelers were burnt. The police on Wednesday registered four cases and arrested over 40 persons for the violence.
In Rajasthan, whose government petition to ban the movie was rejected by the Supreme Court on Monday, members of Karni Sena damaged two state roadways buses and blocked traffic on Delhi-Jaipur and JaipurAjmer highways.
The police also reported sev- eral other traffic blockages and protests from across the state even as women were stopped from entering the Chittorgarh fort, the home of Queen Padmini. “Barring a few minor incidents, the situation is peaceful in the state. The police have been asked to be on alert,” said additional Director General of Police (law and order) NRK Reddy.
A group of activists, allegedly belonging to the Hindu Yuva Vahini (HYV) and Gau Raksha Dal damaged vehicles in Etawah demanding ban on the release. Eight protesters were arrested while two people sustained injuries, said senior superintendent of police (SSP), Etawah, Vaibhav Krishna. At Bhuteshwar railway station in Mathura a train was stopped for some-time.
The police resorted to lathicharge on protesters who had blocked National Highway-3, which links Agra with Mumbai, near Indore, to bring the situation under control.
A car was set on fire near Jyoti talkies in Bhopal and a Haryana Roadways bus was burnt village Bhondsi in Gurgaon allegedly by activists of Karni Sena.
Shree Rajput Karni Sena chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi blamed film producer Sanjay Leela Bansali for protests saying he has hurt the pride of Rajput and warned of wide-spread protests when the film is release.
“I may be arrested and bullets may be fired but this cannot stop us,” he said, while debunking the claim that he had watched the movie. ““January 25 may come and go but we won’t let the film release, come what may”.
As a precautionary measure before the film release, the about 100 Karni Sena members in Mumbai, 20 in Nashik and 10 in Meerut were detained by the police. In Gurgaon, clubs and bars in Gurgaon have been asked to remain closed from 7 p.m. onwards.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant an urgent hearing to advocate ML Sharma’s plea remove certain scenes from the film Padmaavat and deferred the matter to January 29.