Says Navaratri Festivals Are Under(Image:twitter.com/NiteshNRane)
Bharatiya Janata Party MLA Nitesh Rane on Tuesday demanded an entry restriction setup for the upcoming ‘Navratri’ events in Maharashtra, considering the safety of “Hindu women” as they are facing threats of ‘Love Jihad’. Mr Nitesh Narayan Rane, member to the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly from the Kankavli constituency, was speaking to the news agency ANI and said that they have already asked the organisers to check the Aadhaar cards, an identity proof, of everyone coming to celebrate Dandiya performances.
Mr Rane, a lawmaker belonging to the ruling party at the centre under the incumbent Prime Minister Narendra Modi, flagged that the Navaratri celebrations are under ‘Love Jihad’ threat. He urged that the events are solely meant for the Hindu community since they have received an extensive amount of warnings about ‘Love Jihad’ and religious conversions, which are expected to happen during the Navaratri celebration and Dandiya frolics.
Dandiya is a famous kind of socio-religious folk dance popularly performed in the festival of Navaratri, an annual festival observed in honour of the goddess Durga. The festival spans over nine nights, and this year from October 15, Sunday, to October 24, Tuesday.
‘’Hindu women are lied to and lured’’, said Mr Rane. He also notified that non-Hindus are intruding the event wearing “saffron” and similar attires, and identifies “themselves as Hindus”. “So, we have urged the organisers that if they check the Aadhaar cards of everyone coming in, at the entrance, and allow only Hindus, the Hindu women will not face any difficulty”, he added.
#WATCH | Maharashtra | BJP MLA Nitesh Rane says, “…It is the demand of the entire Hindu community that when Navaratri begin and dandia will be played, participants should be from the Hindu community. We have received extensive information that cases of “Love Jihad” and… pic.twitter.com/HNGFm05NO9
— ANI (@ANI) October 10, 2023
Earlier this month, the Bajrang Dal and Sakal Hindu Samaj Sangathan submitted a memorandum to the Assistant District Magistrate of Hyderabad calling the garba events to be given conditional permission. They asked the organisers to make Aadhaar cards mandatory at the entry spot, to object non-Hindus entering into the venues and misbehaving with women.
