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Slum dwellers in Patna city held protests against Oscar-nominated film Slumdog Millionaire, demanding the makers of the film to remove the word dog from the title.

The protesters said their sensibilities had been offended by the title, which they said was abusive of people who live in slums. The city has witnessed protests ever since the film was released in India last Friday.

A group of slum dwellers protested against the showing of the film in the city, while some protesters tore down posters and banners of the film.

The Jhuggi Jhonpdi Sanyukta Sangharsh Samiti (a group promoting the rights of slum dwellers) threatened to burn director Danny Boyle's effigies. "We will burn Danny Boyle's effigies in 56 slums here," Tapeshwar Vishwakarma, General Secretary of the group said.

Kishori Das, another activist, said slum dwellers will continue to protest till the film's director deletes the word dog from the title. "We are in touch with like-minded organisations across India to take the issue on a large scale to put pressure," Das said.

Vishwakarma filed a petition in the court of the chief judicial magistrate last Tuesday, charging the movie's music director A R Rahman, actor Anil Kapoor and other Indians associated with the film with abusing slum dwellers in the name of entertainment just to earn money and fame.

"Vishwakarma requested the court to protect the honour and respect of millions of slum dwellers across India," his lawyer Shruti Singh said. The first hearing of the petition is scheduled on Feb 5.

A copy of the petition has been sent to the National Human Rights Commission, Bihar State Human Rights Commission and the Central Board of Film Certification.

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