A day after seers in Ayodhya demanded a ban on Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone's yet-to-be-released movie Pathan and called for 'burning' the theatres where it was screened, saffron activists burnt effigies of Khan and Padukone on Friday in Uttar Pradesh's Agra town, about 350 kilometres from here.
According to police sources, scores of Hindu-Mahasabha workers raised slogans against the film and burnt effigies of Khan and Padukone near Shree Talkies in the town.
The cops had a tough time in dispersing the saffron activists, who warned that they would not allow screening of the movie in the Taj city. ''The movie is anti-Hindu...we feel humiliated...we will not be responsible for the consequences if any theatre owner screenes the movie,'' said a Mahasabha office bearer in Agra.
The protest comes a day after seers in Ayodhya demanded a ban on the movie and even called for burning the theatres where it was screened. ''Hinduism is always insulted by Bollywood,'' said a prominent seer of Hanumangarhi Temple Mahant Raju Das in Ayodhya.
The Mahant said that the saffron colour was the symbol of the country and the Sanatan culture. ''We will not allow any insult to the saffron colour,'' Raju Das said. He also demanded stern action against Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, as well as the producer and director of the film.
Earlier Madhya Pradesh minister Narottam Mishra had called for banning the movie and had taken strong exception to one of the songs in the film in which Padukone was clad in a saffron bikini.
According to reports, effigies of Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone were also burnt by saffron outfits in MP's Indore town.