Two days before Eid, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on May 1, 2022 announced it has no intention of joining the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena’s (MNS) in playing Hanuman Chalisa outside mosques.
According to the Indian Express, VHP Spokesperson Vinod Bansal dismissed reports of VHP and Bajrang Dal members participating in the MNS event on May 3. The political party intended to arrange for loudspeakers outside mosques that chose to keep the equipment. Deeming such claims as “fake and baseless” Bansal said neither group extended such support to the political party.
We do not support any political party.
We won’t participate in MNS’ Hanuman Chalisa event in Maharashtrahttps://t.co/ouX2GoC4Ax— विनोद बंसल Vinod Bansal (@vinod_bansal) May 1, 2022
Earlier, BJP official Mohit Kamboj had promised to provide loudspeakers for playing Hanuman Chalisa outside masjids. However, following multiple vibrant secular events and reportage in the state, all RSS-affiliated parties have back-tracked from this idea.
।।जय श्री राम।।
अब नहीं उठे तो कट जाओगे हिन्दू, फिर से कश्मीरी पंडित मत बन जाओ।
जो रोक रहा हनुमान पाठ से तुमको,उसके कानो में चालिशा बजवाओ।
अगर कोई माने ना राम के विचारों से,शिवाजी की तलवार बन जाओ। #Loudspeakers#HanumanChalisa@BajrangDalOrg @UdhavThackeray— Neeraj Bhardwaj ? (@HindRakshak97) April 29, 2022
Bansal went so far as to say his group does not participate or support such political programmes. Yet he implicitly attacked the state government for charging Independent MLA Ravi Rana and wife Amravati MP Navneet Rana with sedition for trying to play Hanuman Chalisa outside Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s residence.
Recently, Commissioners of Police of various cities like Nashik, Mumbai and others have taken stringent measures to protect the community rights of Muslims. In turn, religious leaders also promised to adhere to the Pollution Control Board’s noise guidelines for a successful Eid. Everywhere in the state, celebrations and precautions have been put in place for May 3.