Amid reports of fresh protests against Sunny Leone performing in Bengaluru, Praveen Shetty of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike clarified that the actor was free to perform in the city but insisted that the event should play Kannada songs.
"We are not opposed to Sunny Leone performing in the city. She is free to come to the city and perform but we are insisting that in November, Kannada should be promoted. All theatres should have Kannada films, all pubs should have Kannada songs and the event she is performing in should also have Kannada music," said Praveen Shetty of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike responding the news of Sunny Leone performing in the city.
Sunny Leone is set to perform at the White Orchid Hotel at the Manyata Tech Park located on the Outer Ring Road on November 3. This comes nine months after she was scheduled to perform at the same hotel on New Year's Day at an event - 'Sunny Night in Bengaluru NYE 2018'. However, the event was postponed and later cancelled following protests by pro-Kannada groups.
This time around, the event comes just two days after Karnataka Rajyotsava is celebrated on November 1. Contemporary folk music composer Raghu Dixit will be performing at the event while Sunny Leone will be performing to three dance numbers including a Kannada song.
In December 2017, the announcement of Sunny Leone performing in Bengaluru led to calls for protests by pro-Kannada groups including the Karnataka Yuva Sene, an off-shoot of the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike. Activists of the organisation held a protest outside Manyata Tech Park wearing black ribbons, armed with brooms, burning posters featuring the actor.
The protesters contended that a performance by Sunny Leone disrespects the state's 'culture'. The police at the time had denied permission to the event as it could not spare forces due to the heavy deployment on New Year's Day.