Nitesh Rane warns of similar action like that of Mira Road where several Muslim properties were bulldozed last month.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Nitesh Rane, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA from Kankavli in Maharashtra, recently led a Hindutva rally in Govandi suburb in east Mumbai and demanded demolition of “illegal mosques and madrasas”
Rane demanded bulldozer action against the mosques and madrasas in the area, stating that they were illegal and that the area was becoming increasingly populated by “Rohingyas and Bangladeshis.”
Rane, according to reports reaching here on Monday, raised anti-Muslim slogans and calls for arms in the rally in Govandi’s Shivaji Nagar. Some of the slogans shouted were “Band karo, band karo, love-jihad band karo”, and “Tu Durga ban, tu Kali ban, kabhi na burqe wali ban.” (Stop this, stop this, stop this love jihad; You be a Durga, a Kali, but never the one who wears a burqa).
Speaking to the media, Rane warned of similar action like that of Mira Road where several Muslim properties were bulldozed last month after the consecration of the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya.
“Shivaji Nagar will also have the bulldozer. The Hindu here is also not safe. All of our Mankur-Shivajinagar area is becoming a mini-Bangladesh. Today our Hindu samaj (society) stepped on the streets. Today here, a huge number of ‘illegal’ masjids and madarsas are created by land jihad, these should be removed. Otherwise, we will do whatever we can – with the government. What has happened in Mira Road, will happen here too, the bulldozer will be deployed.”
When asked about the goal of the rally, he replied, “The goal is that the Bangladeshi and Rohingya population have been increasing here like anything.”
After violence struck Mumbai’s Mira Road in January, Nitesh Rane was reportedly witnessed at the site making allegedly incendiary statements in the tense neighbourhood. According to reports, Rane had posted during the tense environment a provocative post on X, wherein a section of his post had the following, “Chun chun ke marenge!!! Jai Shri Ram.”
Moreover, in a speech after the violence took place at Mira Road, Rane can also be reportedly heard stating that the government supports their actions as long as the ‘boss’ is in the ‘bungalow,’ saying “Do anything you want (trouble Muslims) and if police come your way, just call me for help, I’ll assure your safety. Police won’t do anything to me because our boss is sitting at ‘Sagar’ bungalow. If any officers come your way don’t forget to give him or her a tight slap. You don’t need to worry about anything, we’re with you. The government is with you.”
