Karni Sena chief Kalvi in New Delhi. (Express Photo/Prem Nath Pandey)
Karni Sena chief L S Kalvi Saturday said protests against Padmaavat had been halted due to Republic Day but would resume now. However, he denied the organisation’s role in the attack on a school bus in Gurgaon and said no “Kshatriya could do such a thing”. Flanked by members of various Kshatriya groups, Kalvi addressed the media at the Press Club of India and said the “janta curfew” would continue.
“Main saare samajik sangathon se appeal karunga, poori mazbooti se khade rahiye… Jab tak isko band na kara lein, jitni taakat hai, us taakat ke saath mein apna virodh darj karwaye rakhiyega… Hall wale se praathna kijiye, vinti kijiye, jis tareeke se bhi wo maanen us tareeke se manane ki koshish kariye … (I appeal to all social organisations to maintain their stand till the time we don’t get it (the film) banned… We will use all our strength to register our protest and convince movie hall owners by any means possible),” he said.
Kalvi insisted that the organisation did not stand for violence. “In the Gurgaon incident, the bus driver said that when I told protesters that this was a school bus, four of them sat in the bus with policemen and took it away from the spot safely, ” he claimed.
Kalvi also said he was ready to pay the money spent on making the movie. “I have made it very clear that we cannot pay for the profits, but we’re ready to repay the cost of the film; our community can collect and give the money. They should have given the rights of the film to us, which we would have thrown in ‘jauhar ki jwala’,” he said.