A group of people said to be associated with Bajrang Dal stopped the staging of a Kannada play mid-way at Anavatti in Sorab taluk of Shivamogga district in Karnataka on July 3. While the play was under way, a group of people raised slogans and went on the stage. They forced the actors to abandon the play and the audience to leave the venue.
Rangabelaku, a Shivamogga-based theatre group, was staging Jategiruvana Chandira, a play written by well-known writer and lyricist Jayant Kaikini at Veerashaiva Kalyana Mandira in Anavatti. Raghu Purappamane is the director of the play, which is a Kannada adaptation of Fiddler on the roof by Joseph Stein.
The programme was jointly organised by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat, Karnataka Janapada Parishat and Kannada Samskruthika Vedike units of Anavatti. The play began around 7.45 p.m. While it was under way, a group of Bajrang Dal activists led by Sridhar Achar told the organisers to stop the play, arguing that the play, featuring Muslim characters, should not have been allowed to be staged in the village.
