Banjara Hills police prevented Lamakaan, a cultural space, from organising a play titled Jihaad , a love story of a Hindu woman and a Muslim man, which also touches upon patriotism and terrorism, due to law and order concerns.
This is the second time in less than a month that the police have sought to stop an event at the venue.
The play was scheduled to be staged on Sunday.
According to sources, the police sent a notice to Lamakaan management on Saturday and quoted the play’s description from the cultural space’s website.
Festival season
“This is the festival season of Bonalu going on till the end of the month of July 2019. People in large number will congregate near temples and also take out processions. In view of the prevailing situation, organising a play like Jihad is not advisable, as a small untoward incident can cause disturbance to the public order and peaceful atmosphere of Hyderabad city which is being maintained for all these years. Therefore you are hereby directed not to proceed with the above said programme in the interest of public order (sic),” reads an excerpt from the notice sent by the police.
When contacted, the management of Lamakaam confirmed that they had received the notice.
The performance of the play, they said, has been postponed to August 1.
