Padmavat controversy : Buses and posters torched, vehicles attacked
Protests against the release of ‘Padmaavat’ by right-wing fringe outfits continued on Sunday, with Karni Sena members, armed with lathis, blocking busy roads in Gurgaon and vandalising unmanned toll booths in Noida, blocking highways and attacking public and private vehicles in Surat and other parts of Gujarat.
Thousands of people were stranded and traffic came to a standstill on the Ahmedabad-Udaipur highway after the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation stopped services fearing violence. Traffic on Mundra-Mandvi highway in Kutch was stalled for nearly 10 hours following protests by the Rajput community.
In Gujarat, the state government said strict action would be taken against those who resort to violence while protesting against ‘Padmaavat’. Ahmedabad Police threatened to impose Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of IPC (IPC) for violence inside malls, multiplexes and other enclosed spaces.
More than 500 Rajput women, waving swords and raising slogans like ‘Jai Jauhar, Jai Bhawani’, marched from Jauhar Sthal at Chittorgarh fort to Jyoti Temple at Jauhar Smriti Sansthan in protest against the release of the film. The women had originally planned to set themselves on fire, but dropped the plan on January 24. They will now file a petition, seeking to commit mass suicide, at the Supreme Court.
Seated on top of an open jeep, a man with a thick beard shouted slogans of “Jai Karni Sena”, “Jai Bhawani” and “Rani Padmavati Zindabad”, as others followed in thunderous applause in Gurgaon. Around 200-250 men, who called themselves members of Gurgaon’s Karni Sena, blocked the busy Sohna road stretch and threatened theatre owners against showing the film by invoking “Rajput pride”.
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