Theatre riots in Mumbai

INDIA: Hindu nationalists tore up posters and stoned movie theatres to block yesterday's premiere of a movie starring Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan because he recently spoke in support of Pakistani cricketers, police said.

More than 21,000 police guarded more than 60 theatres in Mumbai, India's entertainment capital.

At first, only two multiplexes screened the movie and the rest responded to a boycott called by Shiv Sena, a Mumbai-centred political party known for Hindu fundamentalism.

However, most theatres began screening the movie later, said Himanshu Roy, a joint commissioner of police.

Nearly 150 Shiv Sena workers hurled stones and even tried to force their way inside some theatres, but police beat them back, Roy said.