Hindu hardliners protest against Bollywood epic movie
Hindu hardliners have staged a protest rally in several states across India, expressing strong opposition to the release of a movie that they claim distorts history about a legendary Hindu queen.
The protesters flocked to the streets of New Delhi, Mumbai, and other main cities early on Thursday after the Bollywood epic “Padmaavat” screened in nearly 5,000 cinemas across the country under heightened security.
Radical groups in India claim the film depicts Queen Padmavati falsely, while experts and the producers of the movie say the queen is a mythical character and that her story is based on a poem written more than a century later.
In Gujarat State’s main city of Ahmedabad, police in riot gear manned barriers around the cinemas as supporters of Hindu groups attacked shops, set dozens of motorbikes alight, and damaged more than 150 cars.
Other states such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab tried to ban the controversial film but India’s Supreme Court ruled that the measure would be in violation of creative freedoms.
Members of radical Indian groups have threatened to attack cinemas while hundreds of women have said they are ready to perform a mass self-immolation if screenings go ahead.
Hindu hardliners also offered bounties of up to 770,000 dollars to anyone who “beheaded” the lead actress performing the role of the legendary queen.
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