Bajrang Dal members vandalise ‘Aashram’ set in Bhopal, throw ink at Prakash Jha
Members of the group claimed the show was an assault on Hinduism and said they will not allow shooting to go on till its title was changed.
Members of Hindutva organisation Bajrang Dal threw ink on filmmaker Prakash Jha and vandalised the set of his web series, Aashram, in Bhopal on Sunday, reported the Hindustan Times, citing the police. Shooting was underway for the third season of the web series.
In videos shared on social media by witnesses, Bajrang Dal members can be seen chasing down crew members and beating one of them.
Members of the group claimed the web series was an assault on Hinduism and said they will not allow the shooting to go on till the title of the show was changed, reported NDTV.
“They made Aashram 1, Aashram 2 and were shooting Aashram 3 here,” Bajrang Dal leader Sushil Surhele said. “Prakash Jha showed in Aashram that the guru was abusing women. Does he have the guts to make such a film on a church or madrasa? Who does he think he is?”
Jha has not yet filed a police complaint, but Deputy Inspector General of Police Irshad Wali said four people have been arrested as a preventive measure under Section 151 of Code of Criminal Procedure.
“We are identifying those involved in the incident,” Wali added.
Surhele said Jha was allowed to shoot the movie to promote tourism and not to defame the Hindu religion, reported The Indian Express.
“We have been assured that the title of the web series will be changed and based on it we will review our stand,” he said.
He added: “We are looking for Bobby Deol. He should learn something from his brother [Sunny Deol]. He made such patriotic movies.”
The webseries stars Bobby Deol, Aaditi Pohankar, Tridha Choudhury and others. Deol plays the role of a preacher whose followers have blind faith in him. But, the preacher is a conman.
In a similar incident earlier this year, Amazon had to issue an apology and make changes to its webseries Tandav after some Hindutva groups had accused the show’s makers of promoting religious animosity and defiling a place of worship.