Continuing his fiery stance, Raj Thackeray said on Wednesday that his party workers would also continue to play Hanuman Chalisa in a loud voice until the loudspeakers at mosques were silenced.
In a press conference here, Raj Thackeray took a jibe at the Maharashtra Police, saying the police was taking his party workers into custody but “leaving away” those who did not follow the law.
The MNS chief claimed that when he called for playing Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques, 90 to 92 per cent of mosques did not use loudspeakers for morning azan.
He had warned to launch his agitation against loudspeakers on mosques from Wednesday.
Raj Thackeray claimed that there are 1,104 mosques in Mumbai, of which 135 used loudspeakers during the morning prayers on Wednesday. He asked what action was being taken against these mosques, which have “violated the law”.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut said that the Supreme Court’s decision is same for everyone. Now our temples are also bearing the brunt of this. It is a dark day for us Hindus that people could not listen to Aarti because of BJP politics with Raj Thackeray. It is not just about loudspeakers in mosques. ‘Aartis’ are performed in Maharashtra early in the morning and people often listen to them through loudspeakers as all of them cannot enter the temple premises, but today it cannot happen, which is unfortunate.