Taking a distinct stand from the Shiv Sena over the anti-blind faith bill, MNS chief Raj Thackeray on Saturday clarified that he did not see any reason to oppose the bill, which was implemented by promulgating an ordinance last week by the state government. He said that the bill was not anti-people and asked the party workers not to create an issue of it unnecessarily.
This is the first time Mr Thackeray has openly aired his views on the anti-blind faith bill, which could be one of the reasons behind the murder of anti-superstition crusader Dr Narendra Dabholkar in Pune last month. “I used to wear many rings embedded with different stones for superstitious reasons. However, one day I decided to do away with the superstitious ideas and threw all the rings in the sea. I wore the rings on the advice of some people, but felt relieved after throwing them all,” Mr Thackeray informed, sending out a clear message to his activists not to oppose anti-blind faith bill.
The Shiv Sena and BJP have been constantly opposing the bill over some of its provisions that they claim would prohibit some religious rituals of the Hindu community.
Supporting the stand of Dr Dabholkar, Mr Thackeray said, “Dr Dabholkar was not opposed to ‘waari’ or ‘satyanarayan pooja’, but he was against human sacrifice in the name of religious rituals.” The MNS chief also expressed grief over the killing of Dr Dabholkar and the failure of the police in arresting the accused.