Jitendra Awhad hits out at Raj Thackeray, calls him stand up comedian

This came a day after Thackeray held a rally in Thane and said if loudspeakers at mosques are not pulled down before May 3, his party will play Hanuman Chalisa outside Muslim places of worship

THANE: State minister Jitendra Awhad on Wednesday hit out at Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) leader Raj Thackeray, saying Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse resides in the latter’s soul.

Jitendra Awhad. (HT Photo)

This came a day after Thackeray held a rally in Thane and warned his party will play Hanuman Chalisa outside Muslim places of worship if loudspeakers at mosques are not pulled down before May 3. He alleged Mumbra, which Awhad represents in the state assembly, has terror links.

Awhad held a press conference in response to Thackeray’s comments. “Thackeray raised his voice against loudspeakers and quoted a 2005 court order. How come he does not know that his rally was conducted adjacent to two schools...areas within a 100 m radius of schools are silence zones. Those loudspeakers [used for the rally] should have been pulled down in the first place,” said Awhad.

Awhad said Thackeray continued to stoke religious hatred even as there are more important issues in the country. “His rally was held a few days before Ambedkar Jayanti. Why did not he mention anything about Ambedkar or his work.”

Awhad referred to comments about Mumbra’s terrorist links and added terrorism can happen anywhere in the world. “Why does not he talk about [Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament] Sadhvi [Pragya Singh, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case]?” He added Thackeray held the rally because of “unrest” among MNS workers.