JAIPUR: Right-wing groups protesting what they termed "promotion of jihadist and Maoist ideologies" forced the organisers of 9th Udaipur Film Festival - featuring screenings dedicated to the children of Palestine and the late DU professor G N Saibaba - to hurriedly shift the event from an auditorium to a makeshift tent on Saturday.
The fracas on second afternoon of the three-day festival at NLT Auditorium in Udaipur's Rabindranath Tagore Medical College occurred after hordes of protesters arrived at the venue to demand withdrawal of films on Palestine and Saibaba. They also targeted a bookstall at the venue, accusing it of selling controversial material.
"The protesters threatened to have charges slapped on us under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, claiming we were engaging in anti-India activities. They demanded we release a video apologising to the nation for what they termed an anti-national act," said Rinku Parihar, a member of the organising committee.
The situation escalated when the protesters approached college principal Vipin Mathur to urge him to stop the film festival.
"We tried to explain that showing solidarity with thousands of children killed in Palestine and Saibaba, who was acquitted of all charges against him before his death, does not constitute anti-national conduct. But it didn't help. The principal made it clear he couldn't support us in continuing the festival," Parihar said.
The organisers met Udaipur DM Arvind Poswal around 8pm, but he declined to intervene, Parihar said.
Neither he nor college principal Mathur responded to questions from TOI about the circumstances in which the film festival was barred from the original venue.
Budget limitations forced the organisers to relocate the festival to a tent. "We managed to resume the festival but attendance was sparse for fear of disruptions," Parihar said.
The festival featured 24 films, including five on Palestine, all produced more than 30 years ago.
DU professor Apoorvanand criticised the disruption. "The depravity of RSS and collapse of the rule of law!" he wrote on X.
The fracas on second afternoon of the three-day festival at NLT Auditorium in Udaipur's Rabindranath Tagore Medical College occurred after hordes of protesters arrived at the venue to demand withdrawal of films on Palestine and Saibaba. They also targeted a bookstall at the venue, accusing it of selling controversial material.
"The protesters threatened to have charges slapped on us under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, claiming we were engaging in anti-India activities. They demanded we release a video apologising to the nation for what they termed an anti-national act," said Rinku Parihar, a member of the organising committee.
The situation escalated when the protesters approached college principal Vipin Mathur to urge him to stop the film festival.
"We tried to explain that showing solidarity with thousands of children killed in Palestine and Saibaba, who was acquitted of all charges against him before his death, does not constitute anti-national conduct. But it didn't help. The principal made it clear he couldn't support us in continuing the festival," Parihar said.
The organisers met Udaipur DM Arvind Poswal around 8pm, but he declined to intervene, Parihar said.
Neither he nor college principal Mathur responded to questions from TOI about the circumstances in which the film festival was barred from the original venue.
Budget limitations forced the organisers to relocate the festival to a tent. "We managed to resume the festival but attendance was sparse for fear of disruptions," Parihar said.
The festival featured 24 films, including five on Palestine, all produced more than 30 years ago.
DU professor Apoorvanand criticised the disruption. "The depravity of RSS and collapse of the rule of law!" he wrote on X.
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