New Delhi: Despite a green signal for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's controversial film 'Padmaavat' from the Supreme Court (SC), violent protests have been reported in the National Capital Region's Gurugram on Wednesday, as the Wazirpur Pataudi road was blocked by the Karni Sena protesters and they torched a school bus and pelted stones at Sohna Road."The clubs and bars in Gurugram will remain closed from 0700 hrs on January 24 till further orders. The order further calls for strict action against the defaulters. To maintain the law and order in Gurugram, Section 144 has been imposed till Sunday," police sources said.
Police also had to fire two shots in the air to disperse the mob.
Over the protest in Gurugram, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal took to his micro-blogging site Twitter saying,"Utterly shameful. More disgusting is the complicity of those govts who r allowing it thro their inaction."Expressing anguish over the attack on the school bus in Gurugram, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister, Manish Sisodia tweeted, "Those who attack children are a blot on the name of Rajput community.""I want to ask the BJP and the Karni Sena-Are you so cruel and merciless that even innocent children are not being spared? You say you are fighting for Hindus and Rajputs. But there will be many Hindus and may be some Rajputs among these children. Why did you attack the children?For whom are you fighting?" Mr Sisodia said in the tweet.
The Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone and Shahid Kapoor starrer movie will be released on Thursday, but the Karni Sena protesters continue to be agitated against the film's release.The protesters have also blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway in Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur.While in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut city, the protesters threw stones at a mall.The security around the Wave Cinema has also been strengthened in Uttar Pradesh's capital, Lucknow.
Protest is also on in Bhopal, Gwalior, Indore, Ujjain, Ratlam and Muraina.The Mumbai Police is on complete alert and has set up a security check to prevent any untoward incident. The Police has also arrested 50 protestors of Karni Sena.Around 44 people have been arrested in Ahmedabad as a precautionary measure.The Gujarat Multiplex Honors Association has announced not to screen 'Padmaavat' in any of the state's theaters.
Chief of Karni Sena, Lokendra Singh Kalvi, who is vociferously opposing the film despite the permission of the SC to release the film, said on Wednesday that he will not allow 'Padmaavat' to be released.He blamed the filmmaker for all the controversy and said,"This is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's conspiracy."Despite admitting to the violence by the Karni Sena supporters against the film, Mr Kalvi did not apologise.He said, "Rani Padmavati is my mother. I will not apologise to her.''
Talking to mediapersons, he said,"we are adamant on the demand that the film should not be released in the country."Mr Kalvi said,"Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi had driven the British out of the country and we are removing Padmaavat."He said there is no fault of anyone in the dispute regarding 'Padmaavat' except Sanjay Leela Bhansali who is fully responsible for this.There are reports of protests from across the country against the film.Many state governments have filed a petition in the SC, urging the ban on filming, but the apex court did not give any relief.(UNI)