'Padmavati' row mounts as Rajput Karni Sena calls for nationwide strike on Dec 1

Jaipur: The Shri Rajput Karni Sena on Wednesday called for a nationwide bandh on December 1 against the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film 'Padmavati', which finds itself mired in a controversy.

The founder of the organisation Lokendra Singh Kalvi said that not only the Rajput community or Hindu organisations but even Muslim leaders had came against the film, against which there was resentment across the country.

He demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi intervene in the issue saying that the central government had the powers, as per the provisions of the Cinematography Act, to stop the release of a film for three months.

That provision should be invoked in case of Padmavati which is slated to be released on December 1, he said.

"We are calling for a country-wide bandh on December 1 if the film is released. We have the support of all castes and communities. We will hold public meetings and rallies in Gurgaon, Patna and Bhopal before that," Kalvi told reporters.

Kalvi said that the statement by actress Deepika Padukone, who plays the legendary queen in the movie, that nothing can stop the release of the film was "provocative".

Also Read: 'Padamavati' row intensifies; Rajput group vandalises theatre screening trailer

No effort to tarnish the image of "Rani Padmavati" will be tolerated, he said.

Kalvi claimed that film hall owners' association and distributors had refused to release the film in the state and leaders from political parties and communities were coming in support of the demand that there should be no distortion of historical facts.

He said that the film maker had promised to organise a pre-screening of the film before the censor board's approval but he released the promo and song without taking the Rajput community into confidence.

He said that now the Sena is not demanding any pre-screening but a total ban because the filmmaker had "betrayed".