Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Brijbhushan Sharan Singh on Thursday said he would not allow Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray to enter Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, where a Ram temple is being constructed years after the demolition of the Babri Masjid.
“I have requested UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath as well not to meet him until he seeks an apology,” news agency ANI quoted the BJP lawmaker as saying.
Sharan further attacked the MNS chief, who is in the news ever since he called for removal of loudspeakers atop mosques and chanting of the Hanuman Chalisa, over his ‘Marathi Manus’ campaign.
“We’ve been watching since 2008 – they brought to the fore the issue of ‘Marathi Manush’. About 80 per cent contribution towards Mumbai’s development is from those who are not from the city. They should rectify their mistake,” he added.
On Monday, Thackeray’s party had put up ‘Chalo Ayodhya’ posters in Mumbai, appealing to people to join the party chief on his visit to Ayodhya on June 5. The posters, written in Hindi, read, “Jai Shri Ram. Dharmada nahi main bhi dharm abhimani. Chalo Ayodhya (loosely translated, it meant ‘Jai Shri Ram. I am not religious for goodness’ sake. I am a religious person. Let’s go to Ayodhya.)”
Thackeray has termed the use of loudspeakers in mosques as “a social and not a religious issue”. He has said his party loudspeaker issue would continue until a concrete step is taken in this regard. A case was filed against him over the issue.
Addressing a rally in Aurangabad last week, he said, “Today is the first day of Maharashtra (Maharashtra Day). I won’t listen from the 4th day from now. Wherever we see a loudspeaker, we will also chant Hanuman Chalisa in front of the loudspeaker in double volume.”
Parts of Maharashtra remained tense on Wednesday over Thackeray’s call to play the Hanuman Chalisa to oppose azaan being played on loudspeakers from mosques.