Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackery on Sunday said that he will give a befitting reply to anti-CAA protesters saying India needs to adopt a tough stand. Thackeray also said that he doesn’t understand why Muslims were protesting against the amended Citizenship Act. “I don't understand why the Muslims who were protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act, were doing so. CAA is not for the Muslims who were born here. To whom are you showing your strength?” Thackeray said while addressing a huge gathering at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.
Earlier, Thackeray led a march demanding eviction of illegal immigrants from Pakistan and Bangladesh staying in India. Over 1 lakh activists marched in a mega-procession.
Huge number of police personnel were deployed along the route of the morcha. “Apart from local police, personnel of the State Reserve Police Force (DRPF), Riot Control Police, Quick Response Teams (QRTs), Bomb Detection and Disposal Squads (BDDS), and additional 600 policemen have been deployed on the morcha route," the Mumbai Police spokesperson said.
Some roads remained closed for vehicular movement while traffic on other roads were diverted in view of the march.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's new saffron flag
In the moves viewed as his party's endeavour to jump onto the Hindutva bandwagon, the MNS chief had last month launched a new saffron flag bearing the royal seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji.
According to political observers, the MNS, which was relegated to the margins in Maharashtra politics after successive electoral drubbings in the last ten years, is trying to fill the Hindutva vacuum believed to have been created after the Shiv Sena joined hands with the NCP and Congress to form a government in November last year.