Arrests in pageant case

Interestingly, a sum of Rs 11,086, which was allegedly looted during the melee, has been found in the the administrative officer8217;s cabin in the Mahatma Gandhi Nagar Gruh, the venue of the pageant organised by the Cops Group.

Jain, after being released on bail, sought to distance his organisation as well as himself from the September 27 violence, saying, 8220;It was the handiwork of outsiders. I myself prevented people from damaging public property. We only held a peaceful democratic protest.8221; However, he said he planned to keep his protests 8220;peaceful8221; if beauty contests or similar functions were held in the city in the future. Talking to Express Newsline about the arrest, Mahapatra merely said, 8220;Nobody is above law. If anyone breaks the law, the law will take care of him in its own way8221;.

Deputy Commissioner of Police South Mohan Jha said that the matter was being further investigated.

Meanwhile, ex-servicemen, who formed part of the audience at Monday8217;s show and witnessed vandals trying to barge into the auditorium, have criticised the protestors. 8220;They were throwing stones, damaging public property and abusing the police and the contestants. Could they be called guardians of the Indian culture?8221; Arjun Singh, Raghubir Singh and Pritam Singh questioned in a statement on Sunday, demanding that the BD and the VHP be banned.

Activists of the two organisations allegedly led the rampage at the Gandhi Nagar Gruh, assaulting bystanders and ripping off the badges of policemen on duty. They claimed that the show was against cultural ethos and inimical to the moral health of society.

In another development, the Cops Group issued an appeal, inviting people8217;s comments on what was 8220;morally wrong8221; in a show that required contestants to be attired variously in chania cholis, sarees and western dresses that were in keeping with Indian culture8217;, Punjabi dresses and take part in a question-answer session. These rounds were to be intersperesed with group dance sequences, they added.

Cops Group general secretary Amit Bharadwaj alleged the BD and the VHP wanted cheap publicity, and resorting to violence had served their purpose.

Parental pressure
Within 48 hours of the announcement that the Miss Vadodara 1999 contest would be held again, parents of some of the contestants were said to be pressuring their children to back out. The pressure is reportedly triggered by the BD-VHP statement that they would protest against such programmes in the future as well. 8220;They are afraid that even an open-air show will witness bloodshed8221;, a Cops Group member said.