'Eid Shouldn't Be Hindered': Thackeray Cancels 'Hanuman Chalisa' Plan for 3 May

Thackeray had earlier called for the removal of loudspeakers from mosques in Maharashtra by 4 May.

Raj Thackeray

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Monday, 2 May, appealed to party workers to abandon the MNS' plan of performing 'maha aartis' on Tuesday, so that no social tension is created during the festival of Eid.

"It's Eid tomorrow. I have said several things in the Sambhajinagar rally yesterday about it. The Muslim community should be able to celebrate this festival with joy. As was decided before, let's not perform aartis anywhere on Akshaya Tritiya," Thackeray said in a tweet in Marathi.

The festivals of Eid and Akshaya Tritiya will be celebrated on Tuesday, amid an ongoing row in Maharashtra and a some other states on the usage of loudspeakers for broadcasting religious messages and prayers.

The MNS chief further stated that the issue of loudspeakers was not a religious one and that the party's course of action on the matter will be announced on Tuesday.

"We do not wish to hinder anybody's celebrations. The issue of loudspeakers in not religious, but a social one and what course we take with the matter shall be informed to you all via Twitter tomorrow. That's all for now."

Raj Thackeray

Thackeray on Sunday had stated at a rally in Aurangabad that loudspeakers must be removed from mosques in the state by 4 May, adding that if it were not done, all Hindus should play Hanuman Chalisa outside the mosques.

"Eid will be celebrated on 3 May. We don’t want to vitiate the atmosphere. But from 4 May, if loudspeakers are not brought down (from mosques), then all Hindus should play Hanuman Chalisa at double the volume in front of those mosques," he had been quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

He also said that he would not be held responsible for what happens after the 3 May deadline.