BJP, Raj skip all-party meeting on loudspeakers

State home minister Dilip Walse Patil said the matter will be taken up again at the cabinet meeting expected to take place on April 27

Mumbai: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) skipped the all-party meeting convened on Monday by deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar to reach a consensus on the use of loudspeakers at places of worship after leaders of both parties objected to its use in mosques, holding prayers on loudspeakers at temples across the state to counter the call of the faithful in Islam.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar appealed to leaders across parties to cooperate with the state government to maintain law and order, and said that several religious structures were illegal (ANI)

While the BJP boycotted the meeting in protest of the “misuse of the police force” against their leaders, Raj Thackeray skipped the meeting, but his party leaders attended it. Representatives from the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition parties — Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Shiv Sena — as well as the Peasants and Workers Party, Aam Aadmi Party, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), and Communist Party of India (Marxist) attended the meeting. Barring the MNS, all parties pressed for action to maintain law and order in the state.

State home minister Dilip Walse Patil said the matter will be taken up again at the cabinet meeting expected to take place on April 27 and added that the guidelines operational in the state are based on the Supreme Court’s orders.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar appealed to leaders across parties to cooperate with the state government to maintain law and order, and said that several religious structures were illegal.

This comes at a time when former CM and leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis claimed on Monday evening at a press conference that a situation of lawlessness was prevalent in the state.

“There are attempts to finish us [the BJP] by attempting to kill our leaders. The opposition leaders are attacked under police protection. No cases are registered against the workers of the ruling parties. Our leaders Kirit Somaiya and Mohit Kamboj were attacked by the Sena workers just because we exposed their corruption. In this backdrop there was no point in attending the meeting on law and order. We boycotted it,” he said.

Meanwhile, breaking his silence on the Hanuman Chalisa row, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Monday that he would welcome anyone to his house to chant the prayers, but won’t bow down to any kind of bullying.

Talking to reporters at a programme to launch the National Common Mobility Card, the chief minister said, “Reading Hanuman Chalisa is not a problem. You can come to my house and read it but we won’t tolerate bullying. If anyone resorts to dadagiri (bullying), we know how to do the same.”

On those who question his brand of Hindutva, he said, “I have learned Hindutva by visiting the shakhas. Who was present when Babri Masjid was demolished or when the court ordered the construction of a Ram mandir at the Babri site? Shiv Sena has taught us Hindutva,” said Thackeray.

The row on loudspeakers first erupted after a delegation of BJP leaders led by party’s city unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha met the police commissioner on March 29 with a demand that loudspeakers not be used outside mosques. It escalated a few days later when MNS chief Raj Thackeray issued a “deadline” to the state government to have all loudspeakers removed from mosques by May 3 — the day of Eid culminating the ongoing holy month of Ramzan — failing which his party workers would start reciting the Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques.

On April 23, high drama ensued in the Mumbai suburbs of Khar and Bandra east after independent lawmakers, husband-wife duo Ravi and Navneet Rana announced their plans to recite the Hanuman Chalisa outside chief minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence, Matoshree, following which hundreds of Shiv Sena party workers took to the streets to prevent the Ranas from reaching the CM’s residential suburb. The Badnera legislator and Amravati member of Parliament were later arrested, slapped with sedition and sent to 14 days judicial custody. The row worsened after BJP leaders Mohit Kamboj was hit by Sena workers on Friday and Kirit Somaiya’s car was attacked by Sena workers causing damage to the vehicle and injury to the former parliamentarian.

“Based on the Supreme Court’s 2005 order, the state environment department has issued various orders between 2015 and 2017 for the regulation of the loudspeakers and their noise levels. The home department has been implementing these orders. We will discuss whether there is a need for separate guidelines or whether the existing notifications and Government Resolutions (GRs) issued by the state government are sufficient to monitor the use of loudspeakers at religious places,” he said.

Patil further said that since the issue pertained to the entire country, the Central government should come out with national guidelines. “The orders issued by the government are based on the SC orders which are applicable to the entire nation. We expect the Centre to come out with a national policy on it. We are ready to take all-party delegation and meet the minister concerned in the Central government for the guidelines.”

Walse Patil said that violators would face police action as per existing rules irrespective of their religious affiliation.

“Some political leaders have set the deadline for the removal of the loudspeakers, but there could not be a selective action for any specific religion. The action would have to be initiated for the use of loudspeakers at the festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi, Navratri and performances at Kakad arti [early morning prayers], bhajans and kirtans [ceremonies and rituals]. The law will be equal for all religions and the action would be taken by the police for violation of the existing rules,” he said.

“In the wake of the deteriorated law and order situation, the breach of fundamental rights of the Opposition and the anarchy-like situation in the state, the home department is requested to take immediate steps,” Fadnavis said.

State environment minister and Sena leader Aaditya Thackeray said that the state government was considering how to effectively implement the existing rules related to use of loudspeakers and their noise levels.

MNS leader Bala Nandgaonkar said that the party was firm on the May 3 deadline issued by their party chief. “There cannot be loudspeakers played throughout the year,” he said.

“The BJP has failed to play its role of the responsible opposition party and their absence from the all-party meeting convened to maintain law and order in the state is evidence of this. The BJP has shown its desperation for power over the last one and half years of the MVA government. The people of Maharashtra have now realised the BJP was not interested in social harmony. The questions are also being raised if the people who are trying to unsettle the law and order in the state are supported by the BJP. The state has a long-standing tradition of the ruling and opposition parties sitting together on the issues that pose challenges before the state, but BJP has chosen to tread a different path. This is unfortunate,” said Maharashtra Congress’s general secretary Sachin Sawant.

Legislator Kapil Patil of Lokbharati Party said that the parties participating in the meeting were in favour of the steps required to be taken to maintain communal harmony. “MNS wanted to put restrictions on the loudspeakers on the mosque, but we are against it,” he said.

Dhananjay Shinde, state secretary of AAP said that the BJP’s absence at the all-party meeting was surprising. “We welcome the move by the state government as nobody wants the social fabric of the state to be disturbed. We have demanded for the strict implementation of the existing laws and the set norms over the use of loudspeakers.”

(With inputs from Aroosa Ahmed)