The valmiki community, under various organisations, on Friday protested against the movie The Legend of Michael Mishra, already banned by the Punjab government the previous day. The community demanded that the movie be banned in the country. The film, directed by Munish Jha and produced by Kishore Arora was slated to be released on Friday. Protesters marched in Ludhiana city and forced shops to down their shutters at a few market places. The community objected to the movie claiming that scenes on Bhagwan Valmiki hurt their sentiments. Various groups had also called for a Punjab Bandh on Friday. Protests were also observed in other districts of the state as well where shopkeepers shut their shops for a few hours as a precautionary measure. The protest was organised under the common platform of Bhagwan Valmiki Samman Suraksha Samiti and protesters were seen carrying swords and other weapons at certain places. Later, they marched towards the DC office and submitted a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi. Vijay Danav, who led the protest, said,”We are thankful to Punjab government for banning this movie. However, we want this ban across the country and hence, we have sent a memorandum to PM through the DCs of all the 22 districts of Punjab. Our members staged protests in other cities of Punjab as well.” Danav said the protest was peaceful overall. “It (forcible shutting of shops and display of weapons) happened in one or two markets only. Otherwise it was a peaceful protest.” Naresh Dhingan, another member said, “We want the director, producer and actors of the movie to be booked. We want a member from our community on the film censor board.” Raj Kumar Atikai, another Valmiki leader, said, “We want the Punjab Government to make a law that, as in the case of the Holy Guru Granth Sahib, punishes anyone who disrespects Bhagwan Valmiki and Bhagat Kabir to be given life imprisonment.” Haryana bans movie The Haryana government on Friday banned screening of the movie ‘The Legend of Michael Mishra’ across the state till further orders. A government spokesman said the ban comes after a committee watched the film’s trailer. The government’s order would remain in force for eight weeks until further orders.
