Police has given notice to a Ganesh pandal in Thane district of Maharashtra. In fact, last year during the 2022 Ganesh Utsav, a Ganesh pandal was decorated in Kalyan in Thane district with ‘objectionable and inflammatory’ decorations related to the Shiv Sena split. The police had also seized many materials related to this and had registered a case against the officials in this matter. At the same time, on Wednesday the organizers said that one should avoid displaying any such material which can create law and order problems.
According to an official of the Shiv Sena (UBT) controlled Vijay Tarun Mandal in Kalyan, the theme of this year’s Ganesh pandal has been ‘democracy is in danger’. Regarding this, Mahatma Phule Chowk police has sent them a notice on Monday. Last year, the police had registered a case against Mandal, after which Mandal challenged the police action in the Bombay High Court. The matter was resolved at that time, but now this year’s theme may increase the problems of the Mandal.
Referring to last year’s action against Mandal, the notice said that any attempt to ‘incite’ or place decoration material which could potentially ‘lead to a fight between two groups, communities and religions and which has As a result, there may be law and order problems.’ Police can take strict action on this.
Mandal Chief Kalyan Sena (UBT) chief Vijay Salvi told the media on Wednesday that this is the 60th year of their Ganesh Utsav celebrations. This time he is including the audio clip in the pandal decoration, which gives the message ‘democracy is in danger’. Salvi said that they depict topical events through decorations in their Ganesh pandal every year.
Salvi said, ‘This year, we feel that democracy is in danger because of the current situation and government control. We have tried to convey this through our decorations and this message is based on the V-Dem Democracy report.’ The Sena (UBT) leader said he had shared details about his decoration plans with the police two weeks ago.
