Hindus will not spare anyone who loots a temple by misusing Hindutva, says Uddhav Thackeray

2 min readUpdated: Jul 5, 2026 06:46 PM IST

Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, along with party leaders and workers, in the ‘Ram Raksha Maha Aarti’ at Hanuman Temple in Dadar, Mumbai, on Sunday. (Express photo by Akash Patil)

Amid the row over the alleged theft of donations from the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, Shiv Sena UBT chief Uddhav Thackeray took a jibe at the BJP saying, “If anyone loots a temple by misusing Hindutva, then Hindus will not spare them.”

Thackeray added that “it is unfortunate that those looting Hindus are in power.” Referring to the BJP’s slogan that “Ayodhya was a trailer, and Kashi and Mathura are yet to come”, the Sena chief said he was “worried about the loot there.”

Thackeray made the remarks as he launched a protest “Ram Raksha Andolan” on Sunday in Mumbai over the alleged donation embezzlement at the Ayodhya Ram temple. Sena (UBT) leaders Sanjay Raut, Aaditya Thackeray were also present during the protest.

The 65-year-old addressed the rally outside the Hanuman temple in Dadar in central Mumbai, where he recited “Hanuman Stotra” and “Hanuman Chalisa”, and demanded an impartial probe into the matter.

Thackeray said, “It is unfortunate that those looting Hindus are in power. A robber cannot be asked to probe his robbery. It has to be done impartially.”

“We are fierce, innocent, nation-loving Hindus, but not fools,” he said. He said Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray awakened Hindus, but they are being hypnotised today.”

The controversy erupted on June 7 after allegations of theft from donation boxes at the Ram Temple led the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to seek a probe. The UP government subsequently constituted an SIT to investigate the matter.

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Police registered an FIR on June 25 on a complaint by the Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust and arrested eight men: Avinash Shukla, Lavkush Mishra, Anukalp Mishra, Manish Kumar Yadav, Karunesh Pandey, Ramashankar Mishra, Ram Shankar Yadav alias Tinnu Yadav and Subhash Srivastav.

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