Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath on Wednesday said that everyone has the freedom to celebrate festivals in the country. But if certain rules are made, it should be applicable to all sections of society.

"If I can't stop offering of namaz on roads during Eid, I have no right to stop celebration of Janmashtami at police stations," Yogi Adityanath said while speaking at an event organised by the Prerna Jansanchar Evam Shidh Sansthan, Noida and Lucknow Jansanchar Evam Patrakarita Sansthan.

Yogi Adityanath was clearly targeting the previous Samajwadi Party government which had banned the celebrations of Janmashtami at police stations and police lines.

Officers had red-flagged the use of microphones, DJs and music system during the recent Kanwar Yatra and raised this issue with Yogi Adityanath. "I asked them to pass an order banning the use of loudspeakers at all places and ensure the order is implemented everywhere," he told the audience. "But when the officers expressed their inability to implement the order at all religious places, I told them not to interfere with Kanwar yatra too," he said.

"If they don't dance and sing, play music and beat drums, don't use the mike, it won't be a Kanwar yatra", Yogi claimed to have told the officers.

Those who work towards the cultural unity in the country are called communal, said Yogi Adityanath. "If I say take pride in saying I am a Hindu, I will be called communal", he said.

He said in Nepal, Mauritius or any country where Hindus of Indian origin live, they feel proud to be called Hindus. “But if we isay the same in India, we will be called communal,” he said.