Haryana Police has arrested 47 people so far after a mob of Padmaavat protesters stormed a school bus in Gurugram on 25 January.
Around 20-25 students of a leading Gurugram school were attacked by a frenzied mob that was protesting the release of Bollywood film Padmaavat. They are likely to be produced before a local court.
The GD Goenka World School students were on their way home when a group of around 60 protesters, believed to be members of an extremist group, attacked the bus with bamboo sticks asking the driver to stop the vehicle.
When the driver did not comply, the miscreants pelted the vehicle with stones, apparently to hurt the children.
The school bus staffer asked the kids to crawl under their seats for safety, and directed the driver to not stop the bus. The situation was soon under control.
The attackers also torched a bus in Sohna. They also pelted stones on a fire tender and forced it back when it came to douse the fire, officials said.
Ghastly Incident Earns Backlash From Opposition
The ghastly incident has invited condemnation from across the spectrum.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attcked the BJP for “not sparing innocent children” after a spate of attacks of late against minorities.
In the wake of the violence that erupted in Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat over the release of the film, Congress leader Manish Tewari deemed the vandalism as reprehensible and questioned the inaction of the Information & Broadcasting ministry.
Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra took to Twitter to express his disenchantment over the inhuman attack on “helpless children.”
According to the News18, he further added, "This is the land where Mahatma Gandhi got us freedom, through non-violence. Protests can be peaceful too; it is surely not required to put the point across, through violent protests. There is no justification for this heinous act. I strongly condemn the attack on the bus."
Political activist Yogendra Yadav took his umbrage to Twitter and initiated a poll asking netizens on whether the apex court should take suo motu cognisance of the violence.
Further, actor-director Farhan Akhtar lashed out and called the attackers “terrorists.”
Meanwhile, office handle of Harsh Vardhan’s Environment Ministry has now deleted a tweet which seemed to be an online gaffe.
(With inputs from PTI)
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