Five arrested for violence at beauty pageant

Jain, after being released on bail, sought to distance his organisation as well as himself from the September 27 violence, saying, “It was the handiwork of outsiders. I myself prevented people from damaging public property. We only held a peaceful democratic protest.” However, he said he planned to keep his protests “peaceful” if beauty contests orsimilar functions were held in the city in the future. Talking to The Indian Express about the arrest, Mahapatra said, “If anyone breaks the law, the law will take care of him in its own way”.

DCP Mohan Jha said that the matter was being further investigated. Meanwhile, ex-servicemen, who formed part of the audience at Monday’s show and witnessed vandals trying to barge into the auditorium, have criticised the protestors. “They were throwing stones, damaging public property and abusing the police and the contestants. Could they be called guardians of the Indian culture?” 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 issuedan appeal, inviting people’s comments on what was “morally wrong” in a show that required contestants to be attired variously in chania cholis, sarees and western dresses (that were in keeping with `Indian culture’), Punjabi dresses and take part in a question-answer session.

These rounds were to be interspersed 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.