New Delhi: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray is in trouble for his divisive speech at Aurangabad Sunday as the police have registered a case against him and organisers of the rally.
The police slapped the case after watching videos of Thackeray’s speech as pressure mounted on law enforcement agencies to thwart communal tension at any cost.
On Tuesday, the Mumbai Police also seized loudspeakers from the MNS office and detained the party’s Chandivali unit chief Mahendra Bhanushali.
In Aurangabad, Raj Thackeray stayed firm on his 3 May deadline for mosques to take down loudspeakers, used during azaan.
Thackeray said his party workers on 4 May would play the Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques that did not comply.
The MNS chief’s speech infuriated the Maharashtra government, led by the leader’s estranged cousin and Shiv Sena head Uddhav Thackeray.
Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil, who had warned that Raj Thackeray would be booked if his speech was found objectionable, briefed the chief minister on law and order in the state on Tuesday.
The chief minister gave the police free hand to crack down on any attempt to create religious disharmony. Thackeray also spoke with the state Director General of Police Rajnish Seth.
Meanwhile, the state home ministry said there was intel that people from other states might be imported to kick up fights in Maharashtra.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut echoed the department’s concern Tuesday when he said: “A conspiracy for rioting is being hatched against Maharashtra. I have information that people from outside the state are being brought here. The state government and the police, however, are capable of handling it.”
Raut was dismissive of Raj Thackeray’s 3 May ultimatum on loudspeakers. “What ultimatum? It is Uddhav Thackeray’s government here. Ultimatums don’t work here. Ultimatum politics don’t work in Maharashtra. Only the word of the Thackeray government works here,” he said.
Raut also said there was no “big deal” about the case against Raj Thackeray. He said: “Such cases are filed across the country. If somebody gives an instigating speech, if somebody writes anything like that… action is taken.”
After the Aurangabad speech, Raj Thackeray lowered his tone within 24 hours when he called off a ‘maha aarti’ in Mumbai’s Prabhadevi Temple scheduled for Tuesday evening. He tweeted: “We don’t have to bring any obstacles to anyone’s festivities (Eid). The issue of loudspeakers is not a religious matter, but a social issue.”
But the MNS leader also told his supporters to stand by for his next instructions.
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