BJP vs Sena in Maha loudspeaker politics

: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) skipped an all-party meeting convened on Monday by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar as the political temperature in the state ran high after days of protests and counterprotests on the use of loudspeakers at religious sites

: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) skipped an all-party meeting convened on Monday by Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar as the political temperature in the state ran high after days of protests and counterprotests on the use of loudspeakers at religious sites.

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Following the meeting, which was also boycotted by Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray although his party colleagues attended it, the state’s home minister said the government will explore if any more rules for such loudspeakers need to be issued, even as the BJP leader and former CM Devendra Fadnavis signalled at a separate press conference that his party will not relent, especially after its leaders were allegedly attacked.

“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 workers of 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,” said Fadnavis.

The controversy originated on March 29 when a delegation of BJP leaders led by party’s city unit chief Mangal Prabhat Lodha met the police commissioner with a demand that loudspeakers not be used outside mosques. This came at a time when there were protests against the sale of Halal meat in several parts of the country, and a controversy around women and girl students wearing hijab in educational institutes in Karnataka.

Over the following weeks, it snowballed when MNS chief Raj Thackeray issued a “deadline” to the state government for loudspeakers to be removed from mosques by May 3, and independent lawmaker couple Ravi Rana (MLA) and Navneet Rana (MP) courting controversy by planning a Hanuman Chalisa recital outside the residence of chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, a plan that drew out large numbers of Shiv Sena activists in protest.

The Ranas eventually backed down and were later booked for sedition — on Monday, the Bombay high court dismissed their writ petition seeking the charges to be quashed. The couple say they are independent but close to the BJP.

Breaking his silence over the issue, the CM, at a government event, said on Monday: “If you want to recite Hanuman Chalisa at my home, do come. But approach with a proper method… if you want to visit by ‘dadagiri’ (bullying), Balasaheb (the late Shiv Sena founder and his father) taught us how to break that ‘dadagiri’.”

The HC on Monday said the petitioners and all others occupying public positions must act more responsibly and show respect towards other public persons as it rejected their plea. “As is often said, with great power comes great responsibility,” a bench of justices PB Varale and SM Modak said, adding they found no merit in their plea.

Navneet Rana, in a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleged “inhuman treatment” in police custody, prompting the Lok Sabha secretariat to formally seek a report from the Maharashtra government.

Fadnavis hit out at the government over the action against the Ranas. “The Maharashtra government wants to crush and kill Opposition. Will Hanuman Chalisa be spoken in Pakistan, if not in Maharashtra? If sedition charges get imposed on Navneet and Ravi Rana, we will all chant Hanuman Chalisa. If the government has the guts, try charging us with sedition,” he said.

On Monday, state home minister Dilip Walse Patil said the loudspeaker issue 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.

“Some political leaders have set deadlines for the removal of loudspeakers, but there cannot be 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.

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

Deputy chief minister 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.

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 MNS, all parties pressed for action to maintain law-and-order in the state.

Patil said 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.”

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.

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 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,” said Maharashtra Congress’s general secretary Sachin Sawant.