Raj Thackeray tweets old video of Sena founder Bal Thackeray amid loudspeaker row

Mumbai, May 4

Stepping up the attack on the ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Wednesday tweeted an old video of late Sena founder Bal Thackeray in which the latter is seen saying the day his party comes to power, offering of Namaz on roads will be stopped and loudspeakers from mosques removed.

Raj Thackeray had on Tuesday urged people to play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers on Wednesday wherever they heard loudspeakers “blaring azaan (Islamic prayer call)”.

In an open letter, the MNS leader had asked people to lodge complaint with police by dialling 100 if they are disturbed by the sound of ‘azaan’.

In the 36-second video tweeted on Wednesday by the MNS chief, Bal Thackeray was seen draped in a saffron shawl with the Shiv Sena symbol in the background.

The Sena supremo is seen in the video saying, “The day my government comes to power, offering of Namaz on roads will be stopped because religion should be such that it doesn’t create an impediment in national development.”

“If our Hindu religion is creating an impediment then tell me, I will take care of it…Loudspeakers will be removed from mosques,” Bal Thackeray says in the old clip.

The Sena founder died in November 2012.

The video clip comes after MNS workers played Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers near some mosques on Wednesday to protest against the use of loudspeakers during ‘azaan’, following instructions from Raj Thackeray.