Hundreds of vehicles have been set ablaze and many multiplexes vandalised in India after the country’s top court shot down attempts by some state government to ban the controversial movie based on a 16th-century legend, depicting romance between a Hindu queen and a Muslim ruler.
Violent protests spread to many parts of India head of the release of ‘Padmaavat’ on Thursday as Hindu Rajpoot groups which claim the movie is a distortion of history.
The movie-originally titled ‘Padmaavati’ after the protagonist, a Hindu Queen who, according to the legend, committed self-immolation to avoid falling in the hands of Muslim ruler of Delhi Allaudin Khilji who had attacked her kingdom after hearing about her beauty.
Rajput groups, particularly, the Karni Sena, have been opposing the movie, in one instance, a politician offering $2 million-bounty on the head of Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone who is in the lead role in the movie.
The Times of India reports that the Rajput Karni Sena has called for protests on Thursday - the day of the film's release - to prevent people from watching 'Padmaavat'.
Indian Rajput community members protest and burn the effigy of Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the director of Bollywood movie 'Padmaavat'. Source: AAP Images/ EPA/SANJEEV GUPTA
"We are adamant on our stand that this film should be banned. There should be a self-imposed curfew by people," the group's chief Lokendra Singh Kalvi said.
In Gujarat, the home state of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, five multiplexes were torched and over 200 vehicles were set on fire on Tuesday night. Though the Rajput outfit Karni Sena denied it was behind the acts of arson. Police arrested over four hundred protesters in the state.
Members of India's Rajput community gathers at a mall having movie theatres during a protest against the release of Bollywood film Padmaavat in Ahmadabad. Source: AAP Images/AP Photo/Ajit Solanki
On Wednesday, incidents of vandalism and arson spread to other parts of the country as well. A bus was torched and a highway blocked in the Indian capital New Delhi’s neighbouring metropolis, Gurugram.
In Haryana's Gurugram, protesters block the Wazirpur-Pataudi road, set a bus alaze in Sohna Road #Padmaavat Read: https://t.co/pbA93gu7Ip pic.twitter.com/jGNkQNwZLF — NDTV (@ndtv) January 24, 2018
Protesters also targeted school buses ferrying young children from school to home. News videos showed terrified children ducking beneath seats as stones shattered glass windows of a bus in Gurgaon.
The Tribune reported that the Karni Sena members allegedly damaged two state roadways buses in Jaipur and blocked a road in the city’s Kalwar area scores of activists were held in Mumbai and Nashik, in the state of Maharashtra.
Later on Wednesday, Kalvi called the violent protests "sad," even as he added that nobody could stop the people's anger from boiling over.
"Whatever is happening is sad, it is wrong. But now nobody can stop this fire burning inside of us, and from spilling onto the streets. Not even me," ANI quoted him as saying.
Amid violent demonstrations, many multiplexes and cinema halls are steering clear of screening Padmaavat.
“We have decided not to play the film in four states — Rajasthan, Gujarat, MP and Goa — as the local management has told us that the law and order situation is not conducive,” Deepak Asher, president of the association, said.
Cinema hall owners in Gujarat also said they would not screen the film until the dispute was resolved.
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