Tribals in Himachal Pradesh's Kinnaur district are annoyed with Bollywood filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar for referring to eunuchs as 'kinners' in his forthcoming film "Traffic Signal".

The tribals claim that only they - and not eunuchs - can be referred to as 'kinners' as they belong to the mountainous tribal district of Kinnaur.

The controversy erupted after Bhandarkar allegedly spoke to a TV channel about his film, in which eunuchs are called kinners.

"The reference to eunuchs as kinners is an insult to the people of Kinnaur. We will protest against this and will not allow the film to be released," Tashi Cherring, a local writer based in Kinnaur, said Thursday.

"The people of Kinnaur were given the status of Scheduled Caste under the Indian constitution in 1956. So referring to eunuchs as kinners is an insult to the tribal folk of Kinnaur and will not be tolerated," Rajeshwar Singh Negi, another local resident, told.

"The Kinnaur tribe is a proud and progressive one with a long recorded history. Bhandarkar has been reckless and should have been more careful with his research," he added.

The tribals of Kinnaur include some of the richest farmers in Himachal Pradesh.