Padmaavat Row: Delhi-Jaipur Highway Blocked, Karni Sena's Chittorgarh Chief Arrested
The protesters also blocked Gurugram’s Wazirpur-Pataudi road, despite section 144 imposed in the region.
New Delhi, Jan 24: Escalating their protest against the release of controversy-ridden Bollywood film Padmaavat, members of the Shri Rajput Karni Sena blocked the Delhi-Jaipur highway on Wednesday, a day before the movie is slated to hit the screens.
The protesters also blocked Gurugram’s Wazirpur-Pataudi road, despite section 144 imposed in the region.
The demonstrations which brought the two major road-routes to standstill came shortly after the Rajasthan Police arrested Karni Sena's Chittorgarh unit president Govind Singh Khangarot.
According to reports, Khangarot was taken into custody after he threatened mass 'jauhar' or self-immolation by nearly 1,900 Rajput women to mark their dissent against the release of Padmaavat.
On Tuesday, alleged members of Karni Sena ran amok in Ahmedabad, torching down over 200 vehicles and vandalising nearly a dozen shops, reports said.
The fresh round of protests erupted in the aftermath of the Supreme Court order nullified the ban imposed on Padmaavat's release by the four states of Gujarat, Haryana, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
In a final bid to stall the movie's release, the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan moved a review petition before the apex court yesterday, seeking modification of its earlier order which uplifted the ban imposed on Padmaavat.
The bench led by Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra, however, dismissed their petition, saying the state should take adequate measures to tackle the threat to law and order posed by Karni Sena members.
Padmaavat, which was earlier scheduled to release as 'Padmavati' on December 1, faced the wrath of Karni Sena and other Rajput groups.
The protesters alleged distortion of history by the filmmakers, claiming that Padmavati, a 13th century figure considered as deity by a section of Rajputs, has been defamed.
After the CBFC re-examined the movie, it recommended changing the title from Padmavati to Padmaavat. According to reports, the censor board also suggested a slew of cuts to the film.
The Karni Sena, however, remained dissatisfied, saying the film should only be released if the names of all characters are changed.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 24, 2018 02:09 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).