Farmers halt screening of Akshay Kumar's 'Sooryavanshi' in Punjab

A group of farmers protesting the central farm laws on Saturday forced five cinema halls in Hoshiarpur, Punjab, to stop screening Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Sooryavanshi'.They said that Kuamar did not support their protest, which has gained nationwide attention since beginning last year. Activists of the Bharti Kisan Union (Kadian), led by the group’s district president Swaram Dhugga, staged a demonstration and a protest march from a local Shaheed Udham Singh Park to Swaran cinema against Sooryavanshi’s live screening, news agency PTI reported. Some among these farmers tore posters of the movie put up outside the hall, and even condemned Kumar for not speaking up backing the farmers’ protest. 

Moreover, the protesting farmers added that they will not permit the screening of any of Kumar’s films until the three farm laws, passed by the central government, are repealed. Hundreds of farmers are encamped at Delhi borders since November last year demanding that the government repeal the three agri laws -- Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.The protesting farmers have been camped at Delhi borders for over 11 months now, and the Delhi Police recently removed barricades from the capital’s Tikri and Ghazipur borders. In the latest update to the matter, Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) spokesperson Rakesh Tikait has given an ultimatum to the Centre, saying that the latter has time till November 26 following which farmers will drive their tractors from their villages to the capital’s borders.