The Hindu Jagran Manch, a group affiliated to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, on Saturday threatened to force the Aligarh district magistrate to chant the Hanuman Chalisa on road, reported Times Now. The threat came after the administration banned religious programmes on roads.

“We will not obey the orders issued by the DM [district magistrate],” Hindu Jagran Manch General Secretary Surendra Singh told India Today. “He is no one to issue any directives to us. If he stops us for conducting religious programmes in open, then he will be forced to chant ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ on the street.”

There were reports that several right-wing outfits were reciting the Hanuman Chalisa and performing aarti on roads every Tuesday and Saturday as a response to Muslims offering namaz on every Friday. It started from Hapur, and soon spread to more than half a dozen districts in western Uttar Pradesh, reported Times Now.

District Magistrate CB Singh held a meeting with representatives of both the communities on Friday, and said that no religious activity shall be carried out on the road. He, however, said there would be exceptions on occasions such as Eid. “The law and order situation can be adversely affected by such activities,” Singh said, according to Times Now. “Aligarh, in any case, is a communally sensitive district.”