Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has hit out at the BJP for trying to undermine his party’s Hindutva credentials in the backdrop of controversy over the use of Azaan, Hanuman Chalisa and loudspeakers. Tagging the BJP as “Hinduites who ring the bells”, he said, “If you want to chant Hanuman Chalisa, do it… But if you do dadagiri, we know how to break it. We will tell you how.” Will show what Bhima Roop and Maha Rudra are when they challenge Shiv Sena… Our Hindutva is as strong as the mace-bearing Hanuman.”
The Chief Minister said, “For the past few days, they (BJP) have been shouting that Shiv Sena has given up Hindutva. What do we have left? Is Hindutva a dhoti? That we put it on and take it off? We need a dhoti. The point should be remembered. Those who are giving us lectures on Hindutva, they should ask themselves what they have done for Hindutva.
Then he took a jibe at his former colleague and said, “When the Babri Masjid was demolished, you ran into your bill. The decision to build the Ram temple was not taken by your government but by the court. When it was built then You went to the people with a bag. Where is your Hindutva?”
Invoking his late father and a Hindutva icon, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray said, “The Hindutva that the Shiv Sena supremo taught us is still in the minds of all Shiv Sainiks who have heard him. His Hindutva was that he did not want the Hindus who were ringing the bells in the temples. They said they want such Hindus who can take on the extremists.
The BJP is supporting Independent MP Navneet Rana and her husband, MLA Ravi Rana, who were arrested on Saturday for insisting on reciting Hanuman Chalisa outside Thackeray’s house. While the controversy over the political battle over loudspeakers for Azaan has escalated.
The BJP accused the ruling Shiv Sena of overreacting. Thackeray’s predecessor, BJP’s Devendra Fadnavis, has alleged that the police action against the Ranas is “Hitlershahi”. He said, “This is happening on the instructions of the CM. If Hanuman Chalisa is not chanted in Maharashtra, will it be sung in Pakistan? If reciting Hanuman Chalisa is sedition, then all of us will be involved in this sedition and if the government has guts, then we should be accused of sedition.
first published:April 26, 2022, 8:29 a.m.
