BJP leader in Mumbai offers loudspeakers for free to play Hanuman Chalisa
After the hijab and halal meat row in Karnataka, the BJP has now turned their ire on loudspeakers in mosques in Maharashtra. A billionaire bullion trader, one of BJP’s richest leaders, Mohit Kamboj, has offered to install loudspeakers to play the Hanuman Chalisa in temples for free.
This is to counter the Azan – the Islamic call to prayer – relayed through loudspeakers in mosques. After Raj Thackeray, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief, called for a ban of loudspeakers in mosques during a rally in Mumbai on Gudi Padwa, the right-wing groups are building up momentum about the ban.
Kamboj tweeted, “Anyone who needs a loudspeaker to install it in a temple can ask us for free! All Hindus should have one voice!” he said, adding Jai Shri Ram! Har Har Mahadev!
Meanwhile, MNS leaders in several parts of Maharashtra have started playing the Hanuman Chalisa from loudspeakers. Championing this call to ban loudspeakers in mosques comes just ahead of elections for India’s richest municipal body – the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation or BMC. This controversy could help the MNS and the BJP to stir up trouble for Shiv Sena, who is part of the ruling Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) alliance.
Also read: Remove loudspeakers in mosques demands Raj Thackeray; ‘scripted by BJP’, retorts Raut
Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray had often called for banning loudspeakers outside mosques but the party had softened its stance, especially after forming the coalition in 2019. However, Raj Thackeray, who broke away from the party in 2005 after a rift with Bal Thackeray’s son and now Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, is a strong proponent of Hindutva.
Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi, meanwhile, has reacted in a Gandhian manner to this loudspeaker ban by launching a juice stall. He said Muslims are ready to welcome people playing Hanuman Chalisa and will be offering them drinks.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut had slammed the BJP and MNS. Noting that Raj Thackeray had been talking about taking down the loudspeakers installed in mosques yesterday, he asked whether the Azaan has been discontinued in all the BJP ruled states? “This is Maharashtra, where law of the land is followed,” he had said.
