|
Protests against the film turned increasingly
violent late on Tuesday with vandalism around a number of
multiplexes in the Western state of Gujarat and dozens of
motorcycles being set on fire around malls that house theaters.
Groups critical of the project have accused its director, Sanjay
Leela Bhansali, of distorting history by portraying a Muslim
ruler as the "lover" of Queen Padmavati of the Hindu Rajput
warrior clan. The filmmakers deny the accusation.
The police had to open fire to disperse crowds on Tuesday night
and protests are expected to continue in various parts of the
country ahead of the release of the film on Jan. 25.
In the central state of Chhattisgarh, dozens of members of
Rajput community staged protests and burned an effigy of
Bhansali on Tuesday evening, Rakesh Singh Bais of the community
group Sarwa Kshatriya Mahasabha told Reuters.
The members of the communities and from Hindu organizations will
form a human chain on Wednesday and stage a motorcycle rally to
give cinema hall owners final warnings, Bais said.
O. P. Galhotra, the director general of police for Rajasthan,
said they have information that members of the Karni Sena and
other Rajput groups were planning a protest in various parts of
the state against the movie.
"We have been talking to the leaders of the Karni Sena and they
don't want to end their protest...we have decided to allow them
to hold small protests, and have made adequate arrangements to
maintain law and order," Galhotra said.
Rajvansh Singh, the district secretary of the Karni Sena in the
city of Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, said he is the custodian of
the respect of Hindu Rajput women and anyone trying to depict
history as fiction will have to pay a price for their mistake.
"We will not allow the movie to be released, the director thinks
he can change the name and release his film this makes no sense.
Queen Padmini is like our goddess, no one will be allowed to
insult our goddess and our Hindu pride."
(Reporting by Jatindra Dash and Rupam Jain; Writing by Swati
Bhat; Editing by Euan Rocha and Michael Perry)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
