Mumbai: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday slammed Maharashtra NavnirmanSena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray for his remark that loudspeakers should be removed from mosques, saying that Maharashtra is the only state where law still reigns.
Raj Thackeray also claimed that throughout all of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states, ‘Azaan’ has been halted and loudspeakers have been removed.
“Raj Thackeray was talking about taking down the loudspeakers installed in mosques yesterday. First, see in which all BJP ruled states Azaan has been stopped, loudspeakers removed from mosques…This is Maharashtra, where law of the land is followed,” Raut told media persons here.
Raj Thackeray has before ordered the state government to remove loudspeakers from mosques, warning that “placing loudspeakers in front of mosques and playing Hanuman Chalisa” would be detrimental.
“People thought it (MNS chief Raj Thackeray’s event at Shivaji Park yesterday) was BJP’s event…The law of the land prevails in Maharashtra. Home minister will do everything as per the law to ensure law and order in state,” he said.
Sanjay Raut, in response to his words, stated that the Maharashtra Home Minister will follow the law and that the law of the land will prevail in the state.
Raj Thackeray also said, “I am not against prayers, you can pray at your home, but the government should take a decision on removing mosque loudspeakers. I am warning now… Remove loudspeakers or else will put loudspeakers in front of the mosque and play Hanuman Chalisa.”
He further urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to search mosques in Mumbai’s Muslim neighbourhoods, claiming that the residents are “Pakistani supporters.”
After the creation of his party in 1999, the MNS chief slammed NCP chief Sharad Pawar, accusing him of being responsible for the emergence of casteist politics in Maharashtra.
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