'Jodhaa Akbar' screening suspended in Madhya Pradesh

Bhopal, Feb 22 (IANS) The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Madhya Pradesh Friday suspended the screening of "Jodhaa Akbar", a week after the Hindi film's release.

"The screening of the film has been suspended and not banned. It has been done as there were fears that it would cause a law and order problem in the state as a particular community was against the film's content," Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan told IANS.

The order to suspend the screening of the movie was issued by the commercial tax department. Commercial Tax Minister Babulal Gaur was, however, not available for comment.

People belonging to the Kshatriya (Rajput) community have been protesting against the film, which they claim distorts historical facts. They have alleged that the film portrays Mughal Emperor Akbar's wife Jodha Bai as a Kshatriya though she wasn't.

While the movie was being exhibited peacefully in Bhopal, some groups held demonstrations against its screening in Gwalior, Indore, Ujjain, Dhar and Khandwa.

In Gwalior, protestors damaged the cinema halls showing the film. In Indore, the Kshatriya Mahasabha staged a demonstration near a theatre and tore posters.

In Ujjain, protestors under the banner of the Kshatriya Yuva Mahasabha pelted stones at a cinema hall, forcing the owners to halt the movie's screening. The demonstrators also submitted a memorandum demanding a ban on "Jodhaa Akbar" to the administration.

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Jodhaa Akbar