MP govt announces holiday on Maharana Pratap Jayanti says 'Padmaavat' protest cases will be withdrawn

Bhopal, Jan 5 (PTI) Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Thursday announced a holiday for Maharana Pratap Jayanti and also said cases filed against those protesting for a ban on the 2018 film 'Padmaavat' will be withdrawn.
He was speaking at a function of the 'Kshatriya Samagam' at his official residence where the community placed 21 demands in front of the Bharatiya Janata Party government in the state.
Several states saw violent protests in early 2018 with groups claiming the Sanjay Leela Bhansali film demeaned Queen Padmini.
Besides announcing a holiday on Maharana Pratap Jayanti, whom he lauded for defeating foreign invaders 18 times, the CM also said a statue of Rani Padmavati will be built at Manuabhan Tekri.
Chouhan proceeded to lay the foundation stone of the statue soon after the function at his official residence.
The CM also accepted the demand of including a Rajput in the committee formulating the syllabus as well as in the 'Savarna Aayog' (forward class commission) in the state.
Another demand of the community, that of installing a statue of General Bipin Rawat, the first Chief Of Defence Staff (CDS) who was killed in a helicopter crash on December 8, 2021, was also accepted.
An official said the CM assured that a plot of land will be allotted for it.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)