Protesters outside Ambar theatre. File picture

Ahmedabad, June 20: Pravin Joshi, the 30-year-old who set himself on fire to protest the screening of the Aamir Khan-starrer Fanaa at a Jamnagar theatre, died today.

Joshi has been battling for life in a Jamnagar hospital with 85 per cent burns since June 11 ? the day he tried to kill himself.

He was taken to hospital by Vimal Maadam, the owner of Ambar theatre that withdrew the film a day after the incident.

Ambar was the only theatre in Gujarat to screen the film, defying an unofficial ban that came after Aamir spoke in favour of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

Originally from Porbandar, Joshi had married four months ago. He worked at a factory in Rajkot.

His two younger brothers live with their parents in Porbandar, where his father works as a cook in a hotel.

In a statement to police, Joshi ? who was not affiliated to any political party ? had said he took the step for “the cause of Narmada” and to “make the people of Gujarat aware about the enemies of the dam project”.

As word spread about his death today, BJP leaders thronged the hospital. Many party workers are likely to attend his funeral in Porbandar.

Amit Thakker, the national general secretary of the BJP’s youth wing which had called for the ban on Fanaa, demanded that the theatre owner “be immediately arrested and the government agencies look into the fire safety aspects of the theatre”.

Maadam said: “I feel sad for the innocent youth. But the real culprits are those who instigated him to take such an extreme step.”

Thakker termed Joshi a Narmada martyr. “Whenever the history of Narmada dam is written, Pravin Joshi will be recorded as the first martyr.”