Stressing that Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) had no intention of causing riots in Maharashtra or any other part of the country, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Sunday said that the issue of playing azaan on loudspeakers was not a religious one, but a social problem.
Speaking to reporters in Pune, Mr. Thackeray nonetheless warned the minority community – and the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) coalition government of the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress – that if loudspeakers were not removed from mosques by May 3, then the MNS would reply in kind.
“The MNS does not want riots or any kind of violence in Maharashtra or elsewhere in the country. We have no wish to disrupt the peace in Maharashtra or anywhere else. But the Muslim community need to think of playing the azaan over loudspeakers keeping humanitarian considerations in mind. Nobody has opposed their prayers. But if they insist on playing the azaan over loudspeakers five times a day, then they will have to listen to the Hanuman Chalisa and aaratis being similarly played over loudspeakers,” said the MNS chief.
