MUMBAI, 4 February 2008 — Members of a militant Hindu group yesterday pulled out audiences from movie theaters in Thane and Nashik districts in the western Maharashtra state and beat them up for watching North Indian Bhojpuri-language films.
Mobs of Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) of Raj Thackeray entered Pratap Cinema Hall in Thane where a Bhojpuri-language film was being screened, forced the audience to evacuate and beat them up with sticks and shoes. They later burned the reels of the film and set the theater on fire.
In Nashik, MNS workers raided the Madhukar Cinema Hall in the heart of the city and burned Bhojpuri film reels. They damaged furniture, tore down posters and set vehicles parked outside the theater on fire.
Reports from New Delhi, meanwhile, said the president of the north India chapter of the Shiv Sena party, Jai Bhagwan Goel, has demanded the immediate arrest of Raj Thackeray because his statement on north Indians have hurt the sentiments of the people of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.
Earlier in the day, police used batons to disperse warring workers of MNS and the Samajwadi Party in Mumbai. The trouble started when Samajwadi Party workers going to attend a rally in Shivaji Park in Dadar were beaten up by MNS workers. They were assaulted near the house of Raj Thackeray, which is close to the rally site.
On Saturday, Raj Thackeray declared that Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh would not be allowed to enter Mumbai and Maharashtra after Amar Singh refuted Raj’s allegations against movie star Amitabh Bachchan and his family.
The trouble between MNS and Samajwadi Party stems from remarks by Raj that Bachchan loved and invested in his native Uttar Pradesh state even after living and earning name and fame in Maharashtra.
Yesterday Bachchan’s wife Jaya came out in his defense and slammed Raj at a press conference here. “Who is Raj Thackeray? I only know two Thackeray’s — Bal Thackeray, the Shiv Sena supremo is like a father to me, and Uddhav Thackeray, the executive president of the Sena, is like my son. Besides these two, I don’t know any other Thackeray,” she said.
Taking a dig at Raj, the actress and member of Parliament said that the Bachchans were prepared to start a school in Mumbai provided Raj donated them the land and would be happy to name it after their daughter-in-law and actress Aishwarya.
