New Delhi:
The hugely controversial "Padmaavat" releases today amid heightened security, a day after fringe groups like Karni Sena rampaged through several states, clashing with police, torching vehicles and vandalising malls in parts of Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh — the states that had initially banned the movie despite the censor board allowing it with tweaks. The violent protesters stoned a school bus in Gurgaon and torched one state-run bus. After the terrifying attack, some schools in Gurgaon have decided to remain shut today. Fearing violence, the multiplex owners in four states – Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa – have said the film would not be screened today.
Here is 10-point cheat sheet to this story:
- A mobile phone video that captured the terrifying moments of the Gurgaon school bus attack showed teachers and students ducking to take cover from the hail of stones. After the attack, the seats were filled with shards of glass. Policemen were present but they could do nothing to help the group, the teachers and staff complained. A state-run bus, right behind the school bus, was also set on fire and wrecked by the mob.
- Images on television showed group of young men, their faces concealed by swathes of cloth, throwing stones in the streets of Gurgaon, 30 km from the national capital, while the hollowed-out shell of a bus smouldered nearby. The Gurgaon police have arrested 20 people for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, a senior official said.
- The top schools in Gurgaon – Pathways school, GD Goenka World School, Shiv Nadar School and Delhi Public School – will remain closed till Sunday, their management has confirmed, saying they would not want to risk the lives of students.
- Similar riots unfolded in other cities as protesters targeted cinemas and malls. Demonstrators torched a ticket booth in Jammu; stopped a passenger train on the tracks in Mathura. Police in riot gear were stationed outside theaters and malls in violence-hit states.
- In Gujarat, police had to open fire to disperse crowds on Tuesday night as protests turned increasingly violent, with vandalism around multiplexes and dozens of motorcycles being set on fire.
- Besides Delhi-Jaipur highway, traffic was hit on Delhi-Ajmer highway on Wednesady as protesters burnt tyres. In Sikar, a bus was stoned. The Chittor Fort was shut down for the second time in its centuries-old history after Karni Sena members tried to break in.
- Police are on high alert across several states after protesters pledged to disrupt the release. The police arrested 30 Karni Sena workers as a preventive measure in Mumbai; 44 others were arrested in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad. In Delhi, a number of people, suspected to be members of a fringe Rajput group, were detained near a multiplex, the police said.
- The Multiplex Association of India, which represents about 75 per cent of multiplex owners, said its members would not screen the movie in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. "The local management has told us that the law and order situation is not conducive," its president Deepak Asher was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India. In Rajasthan, distributors refused to screen "Padmaavat" citing the protests. Police are also closely monitoring social media, a senior police officials said.
- On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected a final attempt by Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh governments to ban the movie. "It’s an order, better abide by it. You (states) can advise people not to watch the movie," the judges said.
- The protesters believe the film distorts history and shows Rani Padmini, the legendary queen of Chittor, in a poor light. The film, starring Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh and Shahid Kapur, was cleared by the censor board after a number of edits and a change of title from Padmavati to Padmaavat.
