Allahabad, Patna take "Gandhigiri" route on Maharashtra violence

Allahabad/Patna/Chandigarh, Feb 5 : The residents of Allahabad and Patna on Tuesday took the route of "Gandhigiri" to register their protest against the violence in Maharashtra by giving flowers and sweets to the people of that state.

"We are presenting flowers and sweets to Maharshtrians and want to convey to them the message that if you slap us we will give you flowers and sweets. By doing so, we want to remind that it is the land of Gandhi and everyone should live together in peace," said A Gupta, leader of Yuvjan Sabha.

Similar protests were staged by activists of the National Students Union of India (NSUI) and Rashtriya Janata Dal Samiti workers in Patna, who presented flowers to the passengers of the Mumbai-bound train urging them to carry the message of peace to their state.

In Chandigarh, popular television actor Jaspal Bhatti and students of his film academy staged a satirical play.

Bhatti and his students are planning to organise a unique film festival called "Divide India Film Festival" aimed at segregating viewers on regional and language lines.

"Earlier there were Universal certificates (U certificates) and A (Adult) certificates but now there will be M certificates for Marathi films, P for Punjabi films and B for Bangla films. So that people can only watch those films and no one else should be allowed," said Jaspal Bhatti.

Violence had rocked Maharashtra on Sunday as the Samajwadi Party (SP) took out a rally despite the threat of disruption by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena party chief Raj Thackeray.

Thackeray's MNS party's campaign against "outsiders" has targeted migrants from northern India and accused them of robbing Maharashtrians of jobs.

MNS party workers have intimidated migrants, damaged vehicles and beaten up taxi drivers, most of them from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

ANI