Many in the Madhya Pradesh capital are enraged over the way Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists disrupted a show featuring Shefali Zariwalla and say nobody has the right to play moral police.

Shefali, who became famous for her music video Kaanta Laga, was to perform at Minal Residency in suburban Bhopal and her programme was a part of the nine-day long Garba Festival.

But as soon as she began dancing, activists of the VHP allegedly started throwing chairs on the stage, calling the show vulgar and forcing her to withdraw.

"I came all the way from Bhind (300 km away from Bhopal) to enjoy the show. How could VHP activists stall the function?" asked Anil Gujjar, a garba enthusiast.

Nilanjana Mathur, a student of Bhopal's Nutan College, was equally angry.

"I am a fan of Shefali. Why should anyone stop me from watching her dancing and singing? After all, my parents have allowed me to watch the show and I paid for the show," she said.

Fans alleged that when the VHP activists created trouble, Zariwalla was whisked away from the stage and the Garba Festival was called off.

Police were called in to control the situation. Hundreds of people panicked and started to run, creating chaos.

"I am a fan of Shefali and I wanted to see her dancing on the famous 'Kaanta Laga' number live but that was disrupted. I do not know who disrupted the show, but my money has been wasted. I spent at least a few thousands to get an entry to Minal Residency," said Ashwini Sharma, a resident of Bhopal.

Said Rahul Singh, another native of Bhopal: "Except me, nobody has the right to decide what I want to see. What the VHP has done is totally against the law. This is a democratic country."

VHP activists, however, remain unrepentant.

"We are not against Shefali Zariwalla but against vulgarity in a garba function," said Dilip Khandelwal, a VHP leader in Bhopal.

He claimed the activists bought tickets to enter Minal Residency to see what was going on. "And once they saw that vulgarity was being shown to people in the name of garba, they reacted," he alleged.

However, no police complaint has been lodged.

"No complaints have been lodged against the VHP or any other organisation. Nor has anyone been arrested," said Santosh Singh, a senior police official in Bhopal.

But some say the VHP is being given a clean chit because the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in Madhya Pradesh.

"With the BJP in the driver's seat, how can one expect action against the VHP?" said political observer.

But people are in no mood to forget and forgive such disruptions.

Jayant Nimonkar, a resident, said: "I wanted to see Shefali dancing. Why did the VHP activists disrupt the function? Do they have this right?"

He had to jump over the walls of Minal Residency to escape being beaten by police.

Malini Singh, a teacher at the college, said it was not unusual for youngsters to be fans of celebrities like Shefali.

"Many TV channels are hunting for actors. There is much emphasis on the oomph factor. So I do not consider girls considering Shefali as their model as something unusual," Singh said.