NEW DELHI, May 2: In a bid to avoid creating social tension and threaten the law and order situation in Maharashtra in view of Eid, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) has decided to cancel the “Maha Aarti” on Tuesday, The MNS had earlier given a call for “Maha Aarti” on Akshay Tritiya on Tuesday but Eid has also fallen on that day.
The MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Monday appealed to his party workers not to perform ‘Maha Aarti’ to avoid social tension. Taking to official Twitter handle, Raj Thackeray asked his supporters not to go ahead with the event on May 3 so that no social tension is created during the Eid festival. The MNS, however, had no word on its campaign for the removal of loudspeakers from the mosques which is supposed to start from Wednesday.
Thackeray had reiterated on Sunday that the May 4 deadline for removal of loudspeakers atop the mosques in Maharashtra would continue. MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar had announced the ‘Maha Aarti’ last month and said his party would take appropriate permission from the police for holding ‘Maha Aarti’ as per existing provisions and also under new guidelines, if any.
Reiterating his stand on loudspeakers on Sunday, the MNS chief said the state government should remove the equipment from outside mosques failing which “Hanuman Chalisa would be recited at a volume louder than ‘Aazaan’ in front of the mosques.”
Addressing a jam-packed rally at Marathwada Samajik Mandal ground in Aurangabad, Raj Thackeray had exhorted his supporters not to “worry about anything” and help in getting the loudspeakers off the mosques. He also announced that more rallies would he held on the issue in Marathwada and Vidarbha soon.
“If you are going to do nuisance by playing aazaan on loudspeakers from mosques, we will recite and play Hanuman Chalisa outside that mosque loudly. I don’t want to cause riots in Maharashtra. Muslims too need to understand that very well. Earlier also I had said loudspeaker is not a religious issue but a social issue. If you are giving a religious colour to the loudspeaker topic, then we will have to answer with religion,” he had said.
(Manas Dasgupta)