Now that we all know Richard Gere's kissing of Shilpa Shetty has fanatics of many hues up in arms, literally and otherwise, it might be worthwhile to jot down who these guardian angels are:
- A social activist based in East Delhi, Subodh Jain has sought action against Gere for the "obscene act" and Shetty for "encouraging obscenity." The complaint was filed at Manasarovar police station, but no case was registered as the Northeast Delhi police said it did not have the territorial jurisdiction to do so. Jain is teh same man who had filed a complaint against Sachin Tendulkar for allegedly dishonouring the tricolour. [Link]
- Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Jaipur, Dinesh Chandra Gupta, has asked NDTV to produce the original video recording of the incident by April 25. In the complaint, advocate Poonal Chandra Bhandari accused the Gere-Shetty duo of committing "an obscene act" in a public place under Section 294 of the IPC. [Link]
- Another complaint was filed in a Ghaziabad court by two lawyers against Shetty and several TV channels, which showed the video footage of the kissing incident, accusing them of indecent representation of women. Chief Judicial Magistrate Reena Chaudhry will hear the matter on April 18. The complainants' lawyer Ramautar Gupta said, "It is all indecency and nudity, which our society cannot tolerate." [Link]
- Over 50 Shiv Sainiks stormed the Vashi railway station in Mumbai Tuesday where Shetty was shooting for her film 'Metro' and protested by burning effigies of the actors and shouting slogans. "Even if the protest has been staged by the Shiv Sainiks, I would not blame them as the way Shilpa Shetty and Richard Gere indulged in a shameless public display, it was not at all in keeping with our culture and tradition," Sena MP Sanjay Raut said. [Link]
- In Varanasi, the Shiv Sena took out a procession and torched an effigy of Shetty to register their protest. The Shiv Sainiks raised slogans such as ‘Shilpa Shetty hosh mein aao’, ‘Hindustan ki sanskriti se khilwad band karo’ and ‘nari ka apman band karo’. The activists vowed they would never allow Shetty to enter Varanasi. [Link]
- Members of the 'Shilpa Shetty Fan Club' in Patna burnt the effigy of Gere and shouted slogans. "Kissing is against Indian culture and Gere has insulted all women of India," the screamed. Shetty had her detractors too in this city. They burnt her pictures and called her anti-Indian. [Link]
