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Journalism of Courage
AFTER STAYING away from the party’s protest against loudspeakers at mosques by playing `Hanuman Chalisa’ outside them earlier in the day, former city MNS chief Vasant More clarified late Wednesday that he was visiting a religious place as per his schedule. He also insisted that his request to hold prayers without loudspeakers was accepted by the in-charge of mosques in his electoral area.
MNS chief Raj Thackeray had appealed to all citizens to register their protest against loudspeakers at mosques. He had also urged party workers to play `Hanuman Chalisa’ in front of mosques that used loudspeakers. The city MNS unit had declared it would follow the instructions of the party chief and was served notice by the police to avoid law and order problems.
More, who had publicly said he would not do so in his electoral ward, was removed from his party post and the responsibility was given to Sainath Babar. He was invited by Shiv Sena and NCP to join their party but More decided to stick to MNS following a meeting with the party chief.
On Wednesday, More’s absence from the protest was noticed, leading to speculations in political circles, and prompting a response from him late evening. “I am visiting Tirupati Balaji as per my scheduled programme. Currently, I am not representing the city but my electoral area,” he said.
More said, “As an elected representative, I discussed the issue with the heads of mosques in my area after directions from the MNS chief. All of them accepted my request and they prayed without loudspeakers in the mosques.” “They have also assured us of cooperating in future. I am thankful to the Muslim community of my electoral area,” he said.
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Meanwhile, the situation in the city remained mostly peaceful in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad with many mosques opting not to use their loudspeakers while some others lowered the volume during prayers. City police had placed over 200 workers and local leaders of MNS under preventive detention during the day, releasing them in the evening.
