Updated: October 13, 2020 4:30:01 pm
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari (right) and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray. (Express file)
Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has written to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asking if he has gone “secular” in a letter demanding the immediate reopening of places of worship. The letter, sent from Raj Bhawan Mumbai on Monday, has sparked a war of words, and Thackeray responded by stating that he does not need a certificate for his Hindutva from Koshyari, nor any lesson on Hindutva.
Referring to Thackeray’s speech on Sunday on social media, Koshyari wrote in an unusually worded letter to the Chief Minister calling the extension of the ban on religious sites “very unfortunate”.
“You have been a great devotee of Hindutva. You had publicly embraced your devotion to Lord Rama by visiting Ayodhya after assuming the post of Chief Minister. You had visited the Vitthal Rukmini Mandir in Pandharpur and performed the puja at Ashadhi Ekadashi, ”wrote Koshyari.
“I wonder if they are getting some divine premonition to keep postponing the reopening of places of worship over and over again or if they have suddenly become ‘secular’, the term they hated” asked the governor and further mentioned that the places of worship they reopened in Delhi on June 8 and across the country towards the end of June. There have been no reports of an increase in COVID-19 cases in any of these locations, he added.
“I ask that you immediately announce the reopening of all places of worship with all necessary COVID-19 precautions,” Koshyari said. The Governor enclosed with his letter three representations for the reopening of places of worship.
On Tuesday, Thackeray responded to the governor saying that he does not need a Hindtuva certificate from the governor. “What you mentioned about my Hindutva in the letter is absolutely correct. But my Hindutva doesn’t need your certificate. Also, I don’t need to learn it from anyone. It does not fit in my Hindutva to welcome home, with a smile, those who call my state or my state capital, Pakistani-occupied Kashmir, ”Thackeray commented.
Objecting to the governor’s question as to whether Thackeray had become secular, Thackeray asked, “Why should I ask that question? Are you saying that only opening places of worship is Hindutva and not opening them is secular? Secularism is the central part of the Constitution on which he was sworn in as governor. Don’t you agree with that?
Thackeray also referred to the governor mocking him by mocking divine premonitions. “You may have experienced those things, but I’m not that good,” Thackeray replied.
On sending three copies of the representation by the governor, Thackeray said that the three letters are from the holders of the BJP office and their supporters. “It could be a coincidence. Anyway, the government is seriously considering your request and I assure you that a decision will be made as soon as possible with due care, ”he added.
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