Mumbai, June 16: In the line of fire from uncle Bal Thackeray, Raj Thackeray had unexpected visitors with equally surprising gift on his 43rd birthday.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray who celebrated his birthday on June 14 was up for a surprise when he found some Muslim leaders and Ulema at his Mumbai residence to offer the day’s greetings.
The delegation was led by MNS Vice President Haji Arafat.
The delegation comprising Mufti Abdur Rehman Milli and others, went to Krishngunj – the Shivaji Park residence of MNS Chief Raj Thackeray and presented him the Holy Quran with its Marathi translation as the birthday gift.
“We could have given something else as a gift to Raj Thackeray. But we chose to present him the Marathi translation of the Holy Quran. If he reads it, he would realise, in no way Islam preaches hatred and there is no place of violence in Islam”, Mufti Abdur Rehman said after greeting the MNS Chief.
Applauding the Muslim leaders and Ulema for greeting the MNS Chief on his birthday and presenting him with a copy of Quran, Haji Arafat said, “A large number of Muslim youths are associated with the MNS. Reading the Quran would help Raj Thackeray in knowing more about Islam which would consequently help him in better understanding of Muslims.”
Interestingly, few months back during a Book Festival in Pune, the Marathi translation of Quran was among the best sellers. The people who purchased it during the festival included former Lok Sabha speaker and Shiv Sena leader Manohar Joshi. Some of the people who purchased the Marathi translation of the Quran during the festival said that it was the first time they had direct access to the Holy Book.
-Agencies