'Padmaavat' row: Six Gurgaon schools to stay shut & top 10 developments

Attacking a bus carrying school kids, issuing bounties in a bid to see an actress mauled and disfigured, and threatening further violence. These are some of the tactics fringe elements have employed to somehow stop the release of Padmaavat. Six leading schools in Gurgaon, where the attack on the school bus occurred, have taken the threats seriously and decided to stay shut till Sunday. 

The schools that have decided to remain shut till Sunday include Pathways school, G D Goenka school, Shiv Nadar School, and Delhi Public School. (Read more)  

On Wednesday, around 20-25 students of a leading Gurgaon school had a narrow escape when a frenzied mob protesting the release of Padmaavat attacked their bus.

The film, which has been facing protests, often violent ones, for months is slated for release on Thursday. 

Here are the top 10 developments so far
 

1) Pathways, G D Goenka, Shiv Nadar school, and DPS to stay shut till Sunday:

After the attack on a school bus by protestors opposing the Bollywood period drama Padmaavat, some reputed schools in Gurgaon have decided to remain shut till Sunday in view of the violence over the controversial film's release.

The schools that have decided to remain shut till Sunday include Pathways school, G D Goenka school, Shiv Nadar School, and Delhi Public School.

The management of the schools confirmed that they would close down as a precaution despite the district administration and the Gurgaon police assuring adequate security.

On Wednesday, around 25 students of G D Goenka World School were on their way home when a group of around 60 activists, believed to be members of a fringe group, attacked the bus with bamboo sticks asking the driver to stop the vehicle. 

"We do not want to take any risk with the life of students. Protection of students outside and inside is our prime concern," a schoolteacher told PTI on the condition of anonymity. "If the violators can attack school buses and Haryana roadways buses openly despite prohibitory orders and tight security arrangements of the Gurgaon Police," the teacher said, adding, "We cannot take a chance and have decided to close down."

The teacher said that a total of six schools have taken the decision to remain shut.

Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh, in an appeal, said the public transport system of the city should not be disturbed. "Some people and groups want rioting in the district but we appeal to residents and groups not to violate law and order situation and section 144 is already imposed in the city," Singh told PTI. "Everyone has the right to protest but in a peaceful way. Violation of law and order is not allowed. The situation is peaceful in Gurgaon and all colleges, schools, offices will remain open on Thursday," he added.

2) Gurgaon police arrest 20:

The Gurgaon police have arrested 20 people for allegedly violating prohibitory orders, a senior official said.

Gurgaon police along with 550 additional forces, including local police stations teams, have been deployed in the city's major areas, including multiplexes, Commissioner of Police Sandeep Khairwar said.

"All Gurgaon malls have been directed to tighten their internal security. I along with other senior officers are monitoring the security arrangements in their respective zones," he said. "The Gurgaon Police is on a high alert and various teams are ready to respond quickly in case of any untoward incident," Khairawar said. 

3) Mob attacks bus carrying school children:

Around 20-25 students of a leading Gurgaon school had a narrow escape on Wednesday when a frenzied mob protesting the release of Padmaavat attacked their bus.

The G D Goenka World School students were on their way home when a group of around 60 protesters, believed to be members of a fringe group, attacked the bus with bamboo sticks asking the driver to stop the vehicle.

When the driver did not comply, the miscreants pelted the vehicle with stones apparently to hurt the children. The school bus staffer asked the kids to crawl under seats for safety and directed the driver to not stop it, Ravinder Kumar, PRO, Gurgaon Police told PTI.

"Some of the bus windows shattered and terrified kids cried for help. Fortunately, none of the children was hurt in the attack," Kumar said.

4) Fringe groups go on a rampage:

A school bus was attacked in Gurgaon, a fringe outfit in UP declared a bounty on Deepika Padukone's nose while roads were blocked at many places as violence spread to several states a day ahead of the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmaavat. 

Karni Sena members protesting the movie allegedly damaged two state roadways buses in Jaipur and blocked a road in the city's Kalwar area scores of activists were held in Mumbai and Nashik.

A bus was torched and a highway blocked in Haryana's Gurgaon where protesters violated prohibitory orders while the police had to use force to disperse an agitating mob in Lucknow.

In Ahmedabad, the police arrested 50 people in connection with the vandalism outside malls last night when as many as 30 bikes and scooters, parked outside multiplexes were set ablaze.

5) Bounty on Padukone's nose:

In Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, a fringe outfit, the Kanpur Kshatriya Mahasabha, announced a cash reward to anyone who chops off actor Padukone's nose. Padukone plays legendary queen Padmavati in the film.

"We have collected crores of rupees from Kanpurites to be given as reward to anyone who will bring the chopped nose of Deepika Padukone," its president Gajendra Singh Rajawat told PTI in Kanpur.

6) No Padmaavat in Rajasthan, MP, Gujarat and Goa:

As violent protests against the release of the film burgeoned, the Multiplex Association of India said its members would not screen the period drama in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa.

The decision of the association, which represents about 75 per cent of the multiplex owners in the country, came as Rajput outfits and other fringe elements vandalised malls, burned vehicles, and issued open threats to theatre owners and public in their bid to stall its release, claiming distortion of history.

7) Rajput women seek President's permission to end their lives:

A day before the release of Padmaavat, 27 women members of Rajput Karni Sena submitted letters to Ratlam district administration on Wednesday, urging President Ram Nath Kovind to either stop its screening or permit them to end their lives. 

The letters allege that the film presents Rani Padmavati in a wrong manner.

"Twenty-seven letters addressed to the President were submitted to the Additional District Magistrate (ADM)," Rajput Karni Sena's Ratlam district women's wing vice-president Mangla Deora said. 

"We demanded that the President should either grant us permission to embrace death, as we are not able to protect the honour of Rani Padmavati, or stop release of the movie," she said.

8) Over 100 Karni Sena supporters detained in Mumbai:

A day before the release of the film, police detained more than 100 supporters of the Karni Sena from the city as a precautionary measure, an official said. 

The police are well-prepared to tackle any situation, he said, adding, "We have provided adequate security to the theatres."

"The police took into preventive custody over 100 supporters of the Karni Sena to avoid any possible protests against the film that may create law and order problems," a police spokesperson told PTI. "Adequate security has also been provided to the makers and actors of the film," he said.

Another senior police official said the supporters of the Karni Sena were detained as some of them had gathered for a protest, while some others were planning to stage an agitation on Thursday. "More people are likely to be taken into custody in this connection," he said.

9) Karni Sena remains defiant:

As protests raged, a defiant Shree Rajput Karni Sena, which has been spearheading the opposition to the flick, sought to pin the blame on director Bhansali.

The fringe outfit's chief patron Lokendra Singh Kalvi insisted that a 'Janta curfew' will be imposed on theatres that screen the movie.

He also claimed that Shiv Sena leaders had assured the Karni Sena of support on the issue in Maharashtra.

A Janta curfew will be imposed at any cost in film halls to stop the film's screening, Kalvi said. He alleged that a dream sequence between the characters of Alauddin Khilji and Rani Padmavati existed in the controversial film, which, he said, was "intolerable".

"Those who watched the film on the invitation by the censor board few days back have said that there is a dream sequence between Alauddin Khilji and Rani Padmavati in the film. We have been demanding that there should be no dream sequence and no romantic scene between the two," he told a press conference in Jaipur.

The filmmakers have assured in the past that no dream sequence exists in the movie. There is no such sequence in the movie, according to a PTI journalist who has seen the film.

Kalvi also claimed that a section of media had wrongly reported that members of the Karni Sena had seen the film. "This is not true and we are firm on our stand against the film," he said.

Striking a defiant pose, the Karni Sena leader said that he and other outfit leaders may be arrested and bullets fired but the protest would continue in states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

10) Padmaavat set to release today

The film, starring Padukone, Shahid Kapoor and Ranveer Singh, is based on the saga of the 13th-century battle between Maharaja Ratan Singh of Mewar and Sultan Alauddin Khilji.

The Supreme Court had paved the way for its nationwide release after some states issued notifications banning the film. The movie, earlier named 'Padmavati' and slated for a December 1 release, will now hit theatres worldwide on Thursday.