Violent protests against Bollywood ‘Queen’
RIOT police were deployed in parts of India yesterday amid violent protests as a contentious Bollywood film was released.
Cinemas were vandalised, vehicles burned and in one instance a school bus was pelted with stones – causing schools to shut in New Delhi.
The city of Gurgaon, just outside the capital, was under a security lockdown after a school bus was attacked as it was caught up in a standoff between demonstrators and police over Padmaavat, the story of a legendary Rajasthani queen, which was supposed to be released two months ago.
The opposition to the film comes mainly from the Rajput community of Rajasthan, who revere the fabled Queen Padmavati almost as a deity, despite historians being divided over whether she ever existed.
Protesters say the film, which is based on a medieval poem, depicts the queen in a bad light as she is seen “flirting” with a sultan while she is married to the king of the Rajputs.
They also claim the film is not “historically accurate”. Protests also took place in the states of Rajasthan and Uttarakhand, while in the city of Jaipur, Karni Sena, the Right-wing Hindu group, held a bike rally.
In the city of Udaipur, a protester tried to immolate himself and, in the holy river city of Rishikesh, activists fought with police outside a cinema showing the film.
Eighteen people have been arrested in connection with the school bus inci- dent, which happened on Wednesday, and the suspects will appear in court later this week.
The bus was carrying pupils and teachers from the GD Goenka World School when it drove into near-riot conditions. A video clip showed terripicted fied and sobbing children crouching on the floor as stones smashed windows and a braying horde could be heard outside.
“Traffic was clearing up when some men from the mob began throwing stones at us,” said Parvesh Kumar, the driver of the bus. “They came at us with faces covered.”
Minutes earlier, the mob had torched a state transport bus, after all the passengers were told to get off.
Police said they were surprised no one had been killed or more seriously injured in the incidents. Ram Bilas Sharma, a state minister for Haryana, earlier said that authorities had expected some protests but not such intense violence.
Karni Sena denied any role in the bus attack. “Rajputs [the ethnic tribe de- in the film] can never even think of attacking a school bus.
“This is a plot being created by politicians, who wish to weaken our peaceful protest”, said Vijendra Singh, a spokesman for the group.
The film has been plagued by violence on sets, death threats to its cast and director, and was initially denied a release certificate. Some state governments have said they will refuse to allow it to be screened – though this was ruled illegal by the supreme court.
The film was released on Thursday, the day before the Republic Day holiday – when thousands of police and the military are on security detail for visiting dignitaries – and many people fear there could be more violence on the streets and at cinemas that screen the movie.
‘Rajputs can never even think of attacking a school bus. This is a plot being created by politicians’