CHENNAI: A road roko, staged by the cadre of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in support of their demand for a ban on screening of the Hindi film Aarakshan in the state, brought traffic to a grinding halt on the arterial Poonamalee High Road for 20 minutes on Tuesday.Around 150 agitators, some of whom carried flags of the BSP, demanded that the state impose a ban on the film, which they claimed was against the interests of the oppressed classes. After disrupting traffic, the protesting cadre, led by the BSP’s North Chennai District Secretary Sakthivel and BSP Chennai District Co-ordinator Dalit Ramadass, moved across to the Ega theatre complex, where the film was scheduled to be screened.Police personnel present at the venue however stopped the agitators, who wanted the theatre stop screening the film, from proceeding further. Some of the agitators demanded that they be let inside the theatre as they had tickets for the film, which deals with the issue of reservation in education.Said one such party worker with a ticket, “I have a ticket to watch this film. The theatre authorities are not letting me watch it. In fact, we all have tickets. We wanted to see if the film has anything against the policy of reservation. If it has, all we wanted to do was just present a letter to the theatre authorities requesting them to stop screening this film.”The theatre authorities, for their part, claimed that the protestors were not allowed inside the theatre because their real intention was to create a problem.Said Venkatesan, the officer in-charge of Ega theatre, “We had information from the Intelligence department that the protestors’ intention was to create trouble once they got inside using the tickets. That is the reason they were not permitted inside. Even from outside, a couple of them hurled stones at the hoardings. However, to be on the safe side, we have cancelled all shows of the film for the day.” Later in the day, the theatre got police protection after which it screened the movie for its evening and night shows.Police acted swiftly to ensure that the situation stayed under control. Apart from arresting those participating in the agitation, additional personnel were posted at the venue to ensure that there was no further trouble.The film has been facing problems right from the day of its release. Apart from the BSP, the PMK and VCK have already staged demonstrations demanding a ban on the film in the state.
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