GURGAON - A group of Shiv Sena activists stormed a Gurgaon theatre and disrupted a play featuring Pakistani performers.
The ‘Shiv Seniks’ allegedly marched on stage and threw away a Pakistani flag that was being used as a prop in the play called ‘Baanjh’, while shouting “Long live India, death to Pakistan”, Times of India reported.
The men also demanded to know why the organisers had invited Pakistani performers to act in the play.
Although two policemen had been assigned to provide security for the play, they were absent from the scene at the time of the incident, organisers said.
Around 5-6 men claiming to be Shiv Seniks barged into an auditorium in Gurgaon, on Delhi’s outskirts, where seven Pakistani actors were performing the on Saturday.
“They shouted slogans like ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ and ‘Pakistan Murdabad’ and disrupted the show for about 5-10 minutes,” Public Relations Officer of Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon Satbir Rohilla told PTI.
Rohilla said, “We had given an application to Sector 29 police station and they had sent only two cops to spot but they were nowhere to be seen when this ruckus happened.”
‘Baanjh’ playwright Afzaal Nabi said, “We came here with a message of peace. The interruption did bother us but the play went ahead and we were appreciated by the audience. That is what matters.”
Actors in the play said people in the audience had been quick to protect the actors from the protesters.
Actor Zoya Qazi said “The support made us happy.”
Station House Officer Sector 29 police station Ashok Kumar said no written permission had been sought.
The incident occurred just days after Shiv Sena attacked the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) headquarters last week just before Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar Khan was to meet BCCI chief Shashank Manohar to discuss a bilateral series slated for December.
Earlier in October, Shiv Sena activists attacked Sudheendra Kulkarni, the organiser of former Pakistani foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri’s book launch in Mumbai just hours before the event was to take place.
The director of the Pakistani play, Aamir Nawaz, unmoved by the brief interruption, told The Hindu that the only way to defeat such extremist elements is by increasing cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Defending their agitation, one of the leaders said that their form of protest is ‘peaceful’ and it isn’t wrong. “We have a lot of ways to protest but we have chosen a peaceful way to protest for now.”