Maha CM, governor spar on reopening of religious places
Koshyari asks CM if he has become ‘secular’, Thackeray hits back saying he doesn’t need a certificate on Hindutva from him
The tussle between Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government and Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has escalated over the opening up of religious places in the state.
Responding to governor Koshyari’s letter on the issue, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said he does not need a “certificate” on Hindutva from the governor.
In response to a curt letter by the governor on reopening of
places of worship, Thackeray wrote back that his Hindutva does not permit him to welcome a person who called Mumbai ‘Pakistan occupied Kashmir’.
In the letter, the chief minister said that while the government is actively thinking about demands to open up temples and other religious places, its primary duty is the safety of people during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the October 12 letter, the governor had said, “I wonder if you are receiving any divine
premonition to keep postponing the reopening of the places of worship time and again or have you suddenly turned ‘secular ‘ yourselves, the term you hated?”
Responding to the letter, the chief minister said, “Do you mean that opening up religious places is Hindutva, and not opening them means being secular? Secularism is a crucial base of the oath you took as Governor. Do you not believe it?”
Thackeray added that he does not need any preaching on Hindutva. “Sir, you mention Hindutva in your letter, but I do not need any certificate or any teaching on Hindutva from you. My Hindutva does not permit me to welcome home a person who called my Maharashtra or Mumbai Pakistan occupied Kashmir.”
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut, too, hit back, saying that the Shiv Sena’s Hindutva is firm and based on strong foundation and they don’t need lessons on it.
Raut said, “Koshyari is the constitutional head of the state. He has to see whether the state is being run as per the Constitution or not. And there is a peopleelected government for the rest of the things. It (the government) takes decisions.” Referring to reports of Chinese aggression along the LAC in Ladakh, Raut said it is not for the chief ministers of states, but the President, Prime Minister, Defence Minister or Army Chief to speak about what the Army should do in such cases.