Over half-a-dozen young men, claiming to be Shiv Sainiks, disrupted a play by a group of Pakistani actors at Leisure Valley Ground here on Saturday. No complaint has been filed in this connection so far.
The actors of Pakistani Group, “Mass Foundation”, were holding a play, Baanjh , based on the dispute between India and Pakistan over Siachen when half-a-dozen young men climbed up the stage around .30 p.m. and started raising slogans against Pakistan. “We initially thought that it was part of the play. But we soon realised that they wanted to disrupt the play when they uprooted a Pakistani flag placed on the stage. They also raised slogans against Pakistan and in favour of India. But the organisers of the play soon brought the situation under control and pushed them off the stage and the play was completed,” said Satyabir Singh Rohilla, Public Relations Officer, Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon.
The audience also raised strong objection to the young men trying to disrupt the play.
Mr. Rohilla said that the two policemen were also present at the venue, Open Air Theatre, but could not be seen around while the young men were disrupting the play.
The director of the play, Aamir Nawaz, said that they had come with the message of peace and were taking back lots of love and affection of the people of India. “We have been coming to India since 2008 and staged plays in different parts of the country such as Amritsar, Kurukshetra and Rohtak. We have been to other parts of the world as well, but enjoy performing in India as we share common culture,” Mr. Nawaz told The Hindu .
On the recent incidents of protest against Pakistani actors, Mr. Nawaz said that we should increase the cultural exchange between two countries to defeat such extremist elements. “Even Pakistani media has created a lot of hype about these incidents and our family members were worried about our security. But we were not worried at all,” said Mr. Nawaz. The group is slated to perform at Azad Bhawan in Delhi on Monday.
MCG Art Consultant V.D. Trikha termed the incident “unfortunate”. “We should not protest against the artists. They belong to all. We have also been to Pakistan several times and got lot of love and affection of the people there. I am happy that the audience present at the play objected to the conduct of those trying to disrupt the play.”
Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Deepak Saharan said that the police had no written information about the play and also they had not received any complaint so far in this regard.
Watch video:
