BHOPAL/ JABALPUR : BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists, under the banner of Hindu Mitra Mandal, protested the screening of the film “Dilwale” at Jyoti Cinema here on Friday. A heavy police force was deployed to avoid any untoward incident.
Hindu Mitra Mandal activists demonstrated and shouted slogans against Shah Rukh Khan for his intolerance comment. The Bollywood Baadshah had added his voice to the protest by the intelligentsia against the ‘climate of intolerance’ and said that there was “extreme intolerance” in the country.
Angered by Shah Rukh Khan’s statement, several Bharatiya Janata Party and Bajrang Dal protesters staged protest across the state against ‘Dilwale’, which released on Friday.
The release of “Dilwale” was marred by protests from right wing groups in other cities including Indore and Jabalpur, also. Bajrang Dal members protested against the release of SRK-starrer movie and stopped the film’s screening.
The protesters tore off the posters of the film, stormed into theatres and stopped its screening at three cinema halls in Jabalpur. Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad along with Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Shiv Sena created a ruckus in front of the cinema halls and malls in the city. An effigy of Shahrukh Khan was burnt in front of the Samdariya Mall after garlanding it with shoes. The organisations threatened that if the movie is premiered in any cinema hall, violent protests will be held. They said that Khan was a ‘traitor’. Omti CSP Azeem Khan reached to the spot and kindly requested the people to stop sloganeering.
The activists also stalled the screening at two theatres in Shivpuri district and protested in front of another cinema hall there. A similar protest was staged at two cinema halls in Indore. Hind Rashtra Sangathan head Rajesh Shirodkar was arrested for breaching peace in Indore.
Watch ‘Dilwale’: Home Minister
However, Home Minister Babulal Gaur said, “Shah Rukh Khan is gentleman and audience should watch his movie.”
