Raj Thackeray now shares old clip of Balasaheb saying `will remove loudspeakers from mosques`

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing controversy over loudspeakers, Raj Thackeray on Wednesday (May 4, 2022) shared an old clip of Bal Thackeray saying that 'he will remove loudspeakers from mosques when his government is formed.'

Taking to his official Twitter account, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief tweeted a 36-second long video in which Balasaheb is addressing a Shiv Sena rally and saying that religion should be in a way that it doesn't come in the middle of the nation's development.

"People should not feel any inconvenience," the Shiv Sena founder can be heard saying in the video. 

The video clip has been shared a day after Raj Thackeray urged people to play the Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers wherever they hear loudspeakers "blaring azaan". 

In an open letter on Tuesday, Thackeray had asked people to lodge complaints with police by dialing 100 if they are disturbed by the sound of 'azaan'.

"I appeal to all Hindus that tomorrow, the 4th of May, if you hear the loudspeaker blaring with azaan; in those places, play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers. That's when they will realise the hindrance of these loudspeakers," the MNS leader had said.

Meanwhile, heavy security has been deployed at several places in Mumbai and adjoining cities in view of Raj Thackeray's warning.

All senior police officials, including Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Pandey, were reportedly out to take stock of the security deployment.

Police were also deployed outside mosques at some places.

As a precautionary measure, the city police have already issued more than 1,600 notices under various sections of the Criminal Procedure Code, including 149 (for preventing cognisable offences), to MNS workers and others.

(With agency inputs)