IANS
ArrayMumbai, April 9
Allies Shiv Sena and the Republican Party of India staged noisy protests on Thursday outside celebrity author Shobhaa De's residence, after she attacked a move to force multiplexes to show Marathi movies in the prime time slot. Coming hours apart, activists of both parties carried banners as well as trays laden with 'vada-pav', 'misal', 'dahi-misal', 'vadi' - the favourite snacks of Mumbaikars and Maharashtrians - and raised slogans against De.The protesters condemned De's comments opposing the Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena government's diktat to all multiplexes in Maharashtra to daily exhibit Marathi movies between 6-9 p.m.
Police personnel deployed in large numbers outside De's residence in the upmarket Cuffe Parade in south Mumbai prevented the political activists from entering the building premises.
Later, they rounded up around two dozen activists of both parties and detained them. De, who accepted the snacks from the protesters, told journalists that she was overwhelmed by the support she received for her tweets on the social media and elsewhere.
On the protests, she said she was not at all worried.
"I have full faith in Mumbai Police... Police barricades are up... I am feeling perfectly calm and safe... Thank You, Mumbai Police.
"I will not be a party to this sort of politics. I will take legal advice and take action as per the law," she later tweeted.
