Raj Thackeray's rally in Pune today; cops ask MNS chief to follow loudspeaker norm
Pune Police have imposed 13 conditions on Raj Thackeray's rally today which include no insulting speech for any community. The cops have also asked the MNS chief who started the Hanuman Chalisa-loudspeaker row to abide by the loudspeakers norms at the rally.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray who stirred the Hanuman Chalisa-loudspeaker row has been asked by the Pune Police to abide by the loudspeaker norms as he is scheduled to address a rally in Pune. This is one of the 13 conditions which have been imposed by the police for Sunday's rally.
Security was beefed up at the Pune's Ganesh Kala Krida Manch on Sunday morning with a heavy deployment of the police. Pune MNS president Sainath Babar said the party is expecting 10,000 to 15,000 people to attend Raj Thackeray's rally.
Raj Thackeray's rallies started gaining national attention after he called for the removal of illegal loudspeakers from mosques, which snowballed into a major political issue even outside Maharashtra. Raj Thackeray had also given a warning to the Uddhav Thackeray-led government that if the government failed to remove these illegal loudspeakers, his party men would play Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques -- a protest his party carried out.
Amid the uproar over the Hanuman Chalisa-loudspeaker row, the MNS chief announced a visit to Ayodhya on June 5, which he later deferred and the reason is likely to be made public at today's rally.
A day before the rally, the police warned Raj Thackeray that in his speech, he must not insult any community. The other conditions include: participants should not make speeches which will result in insult to any community or create tension between communities; citizens attending meetings should follow self-discipline; organisers should make sure they will create awareness among those attending to not raise offensive slogans; the number of people attending must be capped at the capacity of the auditorium; loudspeaker norms laid down by the Supreme Court have to be adhered to completely; no person will carry weapons; the rally should be held between 10am and 2pm; police personnel will have the right to frisk for safety; Separate seating arrangement for women and children; drinking water facility must be ensured by event organisers etc.
