Indian Protesters Burn Tires, Attack Shops as Controversial Film is Released

[JI7]

Source: reuters

Indian protesters burnt tires and vandalized shops on Thursday to oppose the release of a controversial Bollywood film, prompting cinema owners in several states to abandon plans for screenings.

Groups critical of the film have accused its director, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, of distorting history by portraying a Muslim ruler as the “lover” of the Hindu Queen Padmavati of the Rajput warrior clan. The filmmakers deny the accusation.

“If you have freedom of writers, freedom of expression, we too have freedom of protest,” Lokendra Singh Kalvi, head of the Shri Rajput Karni Sena, a conservative body at the forefront of the protests, told Reuters by telephone.

Television showed images of children cowering in fear on the floor of a schoolbus targeted by protesters in Gurugram, about 30 km (19 miles) from New Delhi, on Wednesday.

The lavishly-produced “Padmaavat”, a 163-minute film, centers on a Muslim ruler, Alauddin Khilji, and his battle with the Rajput king of Chittor, over the king’s wife, Rani Padmavati.

The film-makers have repeatedly said the film takes its inspiration from an epic poem of the same name, but their assurances have failed to assuage the Karni Sena group.

India’s Supreme Court last week cleared the way for the film’s release and has blocked state governments from imposing bans on it.



Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-india-movie-protests/indian-protesters-burn-tires-attack-shops-as-controversial-film-is-released-idUSKBN1FE143

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ignorant thugs

[Bernardo de La Paz]

1. A motorcycle can be a life's savings for some people. Macdonalds & Dominos untouched.

I doubt if the motorcyclists wanted any part of the protests or had anything to do with the film. Not that McDonalds or Dominos had either, but it caught my attention the two side by side as an example of cultural imperialism.

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. The queen at the centre of the story is legendary

While Khilji is a historical figure, historians believe that Padmavati is fictional.

The name of the queen, and the plot of the film, are believed to be based on an epic poem, Padmaavat, by 16th-Century poet Malik Muhammad Jayasi.
...
Historians point out that Jayasi's ballad was written more than 200 years after the historical record of the invasion by Khilji. They say the folklore around Padmavati has been problematic as they have glorified sati.

But Padmavati is deified and held as a symbol of female honour among Rajputs even today.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-42048512

This is like the English rioting over a film that shows Maid Marian sleeping with King John.

[7962]

3. We're not far from this happening here. "Freedom of speech" only if I agree with it!!

The younger generation is getting more and more intolerant of anyone and anything they dont agree with. Violence is not far away, with the "protests" i've seen over the past few years.

[jmowreader]

4. This is completely stupid

“I don’t like this random thing, so I am going to destroy the property of someone who had absolutely nothing to do with it” is idiotic and reprehensible.

Unfortunately, every Trump supporter in America will probably do the same thing if their messiah goes to prison.