Protests over Padmaavat turn violent

Protests against the release of ‘Padmaavat’ by right-wing fringe outfits continued on Sunday, with Karni Sena members 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.

In Gujarat, the state government said strict action would be taken against those who resort to violence. 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, marched from Jauhar Sthal at Chittorgarh fort to Jyoti Temple at Jauhar Smriti Sansthan . 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 SC.

“Is Rani Padmini only a mother figure for Rajputs? Is she not the same for Sarva Samaj? PM Narendra Modi must act before the sentiment of Hindus are hurt,” said a protestor in Chittorgarh.

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”. They then blocked the MG Road metro station entrance — where police allegedly made no effort to stop them — shouting slogans like “Don’t go to watch ‘Padmaavat’, you won’t return alive” and “We’ll burn down the hall if the film is released”.

More than 100 protesters reached unmanned toll booths, beat up guards, damaged cabins and cameras on DND Flyway in Noida. The protestors uploaded a six-minute video clip of the rampage on DND Flyway on a Facebook page.

Rajputs come up with final version of Padmini’s life:
The Jauhar Smriti Sansthan, a socio-cultural Rajput body, which aims to restore the pride of Mewar rulers, issued a “final version” on the life of queen Padmini after a discussion in Chittorgarh on Sunday. The JSS demanded the version be adopted into history textbooks. JSS joint secretary Kan Singh Suwawa said they will share the version with the HRD ministry and fight till it is adopted verbatim in textbooks.