Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray launched an explicit attack on Muslims Thursday evening as he lauded the Modi government’s bid to expel “illegal migrants” through the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
“Stop the loudspeakers blaring over the mosques. If our aartis can be done in our temples and other places of worship, without making loud noise, why should mosques be allowed to recite their prayers loudly and create such noise?” he told a cheering audience at Goregaon Exhibition Ground in Mumbai.
Thursday marked the birth anniversary of Shiv Sena founder and Raj’s uncle Balasaheb Thackeray, who was known as the ‘Hindu hriday samrat’ for his aggressive Hindutva stance.
Raj was long seen as the true heir to Thackeray’s legacy before the latter elevated his son Uddhav as Shiv Sena chief.
A miffed Raj broke ranks and founded the MNS, which first courted headlines with its attacks on north Indians working in Mumbai.
With Uddhav now an ally of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, which claim to follow a more secular brand of politics, Raj’s fresh comments are seen as a bid to fill the “void” left by the Sena in the Hindutva fold.
His comments did bring him into the limelight, with his name ranking among the top Twitter trends Thursday. This, despite the fact that the MNS is currently a diminished force in its home state, winning all of one seat in the 2019 assembly polls and sitting out the Lok Sabha elections.
Also read: Why Raj and not Uddhav will be watched closely on Bal Thackeray birth anniversary tomorrow
‘Stop bus service to Pakistan’
Applauding the Modi government for the scrapping of Article 370, the one-time Modi critic also said he wholeheartedly supported their efforts to “identify illegal migrants in the country”.
“Kick out the Bangladeshi and Pakistani Muslims. I wholeheartedly support the Centre for this,” he added.
“India has to be strict (regarding migrants) like other countries. It may inconvenience people but it should be done,” he said, adding that his party would organise a rally on 9 February against “illegal migrants”.
In a lacklustre short speech, he then criticised the central government for continuing the passenger bus service with Pakistan.
“Stop the bus service to Pakistan. Why do we have to keep relations with Pakistan?” the leader demanded to know.
‘Some people change colours’
Raj also took a veiled dig at his cousin and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. “Some people change their colours to go into government. Raj Thackeray is not such a person. My DNA has always had the colours of my new flag [saffron].”
He ended the speech with his promise to espouse the “Marathi manoos” issue with a new vigour.
Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena, too, held a huge rally at the BKC Grounds in Mumbai to pay tributes to Bal Thackeray, calling it the “Vachanpurti Melava (fulfilment of promises rally)”.
Keen on keeping Raj from appropriating Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva platform, the Shiv Sena went saffron all the way, with every chair at the venue covered in the colour.
Also read: Discovery fan with an elephant’s memory — 5 facts about Uddhav Thackeray you didn’t know
Raj Thackeray is the new definition of desperation!
Indian Poor people ( many uneducated ) work in Gulf with valid paper work & work visa in Gulf.
Why in India only other country poor people can work without paper work.
Citizens of India should know difference between humanitarian stand also comes with some paper work.
Natural resources are important, immigrants from Bangladesh and Pakistan can’t exploit our future generation. Also security is up most importance.