‘Stop Chhath Puja at Shivaji Park’

Seeking restraint on the Chhath Puja activities, proposed to be conducted at Shivaji Park on October 4, Andheri resident, advocate Pravin Singhal, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Bombay high court on Monday.

The PIL was mentioned before Chief Justice Swatanter Kumar and Justice VM Kanade, and it would be heard by the court next week.

Singhal stated in the PIL that the Chhath Puja celebrations, backed by railway minister Lalu Prasad, chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Congress spokesperson Sanjay Nirupam, was “a political move keeping in view the vote banks of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar migrants staying in Mumbai and Maharashtra, using the pretext of the threat given by MNS chief Raj Thakre (sic).”

Singhal said that Chhath was a festival typical of Bihar, and stands for truth, non-violence, forgiveness and compassion. However, the proposed puja at Shivaji Park would “defeat the very objective of Chhath Puja, and is likely to spread seeds of animosity and hatred between Marathi speaking people of Maharashtra and the migrants from UP and Bihar”, he added.

The PIL also urged the court to book Yadav, Deshmukh, Nirupam and Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi under section 153 A (promoting enmity between two groups) of the Indian Penal Code.