India: Protest against the film PK reaches Delhi, the Hindu Right vandalises cinema

Anti-PK protest reaches Delhi, theatre vandalised
IndiaToday.in New Delhi, December 30, 2014 | UPDATED 13:06 IST

Members of the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Sena protesting against Aamir Khan-starrer PK in New Delhi.The protest against Aamir Khan-starrer PK reached the national capital on Tuesday with members of the Bajrang Dal and Hindu Sena vandalising a theatre screening the Rajkumar Hirani flick in central Delhi.

On Monday, the right-wing groups intensified their protest against PK in Ahmedabad and Bhopal, demanding a ban on the film which has generated controversy for its portrayal of godmen and their misuse of religion for personal gain.

In Ahmedabad, Bajrang Dal activists protested against the film outside a theatre where it was being screened. The protesters smashed windows and raised slogans against the film. The group took out a protest in Bhopal. Both states are ruled by the BJP.

On Saturday, yoga guru Baba Ramdev expressed his anger over PK and said the movie should be boycotted by the people. In an interview to a TV channel, Ramdev said, "These days any random person comes up with objectionable statements against Hindu religion."

While a number of FIRs have been registered across the country against the film, Baba Ramdev asked Hindus to unite and protest against the movie. In a reference to Aamir Khan, Baba Ramdev said, "It seems like big personalities are fond of insulting Hindu deities".

On Sunday, another right-wing group, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, said that the Aamir Khan movie has several scenes that hurt religious sentiments of Hindus and wrote to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry demanding a curb on such movies and "changing the character of the Censor Board".

The letter, signed by VHP spokespersons Vinod Bansal and Vijay Shankar Tiwari, referred to some scenes in the movie and said some similar movies "targeting Hindu practices" have been made in the past which have been ignored by the censor board. "It is requested that such films are stopped and character of institutions like censor board, which approve such movies, is corrected," the letter said.

However, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani has hailed the movie as a "wonderful and courageous film". A movie buff, Advani recently watched the film directed by Rajkumar Hirani.

Last week, an FIR was lodged against against director Rajkumar Hirani, Aamir Khan, producers Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Sidharth Roy Kapur under Sections 153 A, 295 A of Indian Penal Code by Prashant Patel, the secretary of the Hindu Legal Cell.

Meanwhile, Aamir Khan trashed the accusations of him having "insulted" the Hindu religion because he was a Muslim, saying, "We respect all religions. All my Hindu friends have seen the film and they have not felt the same".

"Even Raju (Hirani) is Hindu, so is Vinod (Chopra) and so is Abhijat (Joshi). In fact 99 per cent of the crew was Hindu. No one would have done such a thing," the actor said, referring to the director, producer and the scriptwriter of the film.


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