India, March 5 -- After actor Naseeruddin Shah was "uninvited" to a Mumbai University event on Urdu poetry last month, it was documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan's turn on Saturday. The firebrand filmmaker, whose films have taken on governments and political parties, was stopped at the Kalina campus' main gate when he arrived to express support for research scholar Rajesh Bankhande who is now a Buddhist monk and goes by the name of Bhadant Vimamsa. Vimamsa has been on a peaceful protest on the campus for over six months.

The incident came to light after social activist Lokshahir Sandesh Gaikwad reacted strongly on social media and said that the development raised concerns about freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest....