Over 100 Karni Sena members detained for protesting at CBFC office

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, January 12

The Mumbai Police on Friday detained more than a hundred protesters from the Shri Rajput Karni Sena for staging a demonstration outside the offices of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) over the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film ‘Padmavat’.

The protesters said changing the name of the film from ‘Padmavati’ to Padmavat was not enough.

“We do not think it is okay to release the movie after only changing its name from Padmavati to Padmavat. We do not want the film to be released at all,” Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, president, Karni Sena, said in a statement here.

Police said they were ready as the Karni Sena had announced its intention to gherao the CBFC office in central Mumbai this afternoon.

“No one was hurt in the protests and all the protesters were taken to the police station,” a spokesman for the Mumbai Police said.

The protesters are likely to be released later in the evening.

Activists of the Karni Sena, who were being picked up by the police, said they were not being allowed to meet the officials of CBFC.

The movie starring Deepika Padukone as Rani Padmavati and Shahid Kapoor as Maharawal Ratan Singh and Ranveer Singh as Sultan Allaudin Khilji is slated for release on January 25.

While several states like Gujarat and Rajasthan have said they would not allow the film to be released in their territories, the Maharashtra Government is yet to take a decision on this.