Loudspeaker Controversy

Senior IAS officer Shailbala Martin's social media post questioning the public address system installed at temples causing noise pollution has sparked a controversy in Madhya Pradesh with religious groups calling for protests against the officer.

After triggering controversy over "Azaan", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa on Monday gave a justification for his statement saying that due to loudspeaker students are unable to study properly.

A Karnataka BJP leader has made controversial remarks on Azaan and asked if "Allah is deaf" that loudspeakers need to be used to call him. The remarks are likely to stoke again the azaan debate, which had reached the high court last year.

The Union government should come out with a policy on the use of loudspeakers, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said here on Friday.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday hit out at MNS chief Raj Thackeray over his call for the removal of loudspeakers on mosques and said nobody should speak the "language of ultimatum".

The Mumbai police on Wednesday said among the 2,400-odd temples, only 24 have obtained permission to use loudspeakers, while 950 out of the 1,140 mosques have received the approval from authorities to use the device.

Mr Thackeray said if the Uttar Pradesh government could remove the loudspeakers, what was stopping the Maharashtra government, led by his estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray, from doing so.

The Uttar Pradesh government issued the order to remove illegal loudspeakers from religious places in the state on April 24.

Mr Pandey was addressing a citizens' conference, in which members of mohalla committees and advanced locality management teams (ALM) from across the city participated.

In a law-and-order meeting review meeting last week, Yogi Adityanath had ordered special measures after the clashes in Delhi's Jahangirpuri, and also because the festivals of Eid and Akshay Tritiya are likely to fall on the same date next month.

In the wake of a controversy over the use of loudspeakers at religious places, authorities of five mosques in Pune and some other senior Muslim community members in Pune have decided to shun DJ music during the upcoming Eid celebrations.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Wednesday said he will hold a meeting with the key leaders of all political parties and some organisations in the state before a final decision is taken over with the use of loudspeakers.

Amid a row over the use of loudspeakers near mosques, the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind unit in Maharashtra appealed to all mosques in the state to take permission from the state government in this regard.

Raising the pitch for Hindutva, MNS president Raj Thackeray on Sunday said he will visit Ayodhya on June 5 to take darshan of Lord Ram and appealed to "Hindu brothers" to "be prepared" if loudspeakers are not removed from mosques by May 3.

RSS-linked student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or ABVP, has started a campaign to stop the Azaan (Islamic prayer) playing over loudspeakers in the city and has asked permission to play the 'Hanuman Chalisa'.

Senior IAS officer Shailbala Martin's social media post questioning the public address system installed at temples causing noise pollution has sparked a controversy in Madhya Pradesh with religious groups calling for protests against the officer.

After triggering controversy over "Azaan", Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and former Karnataka minister KS Eshwarappa on Monday gave a justification for his statement saying that due to loudspeaker students are unable to study properly.

A Karnataka BJP leader has made controversial remarks on Azaan and asked if "Allah is deaf" that loudspeakers need to be used to call him. The remarks are likely to stoke again the azaan debate, which had reached the high court last year.

The Union government should come out with a policy on the use of loudspeakers, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said here on Friday.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday hit out at MNS chief Raj Thackeray over his call for the removal of loudspeakers on mosques and said nobody should speak the "language of ultimatum".

The Mumbai police on Wednesday said among the 2,400-odd temples, only 24 have obtained permission to use loudspeakers, while 950 out of the 1,140 mosques have received the approval from authorities to use the device.

Mr Thackeray said if the Uttar Pradesh government could remove the loudspeakers, what was stopping the Maharashtra government, led by his estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray, from doing so.

The Uttar Pradesh government issued the order to remove illegal loudspeakers from religious places in the state on April 24.

Mr Pandey was addressing a citizens' conference, in which members of mohalla committees and advanced locality management teams (ALM) from across the city participated.

In a law-and-order meeting review meeting last week, Yogi Adityanath had ordered special measures after the clashes in Delhi's Jahangirpuri, and also because the festivals of Eid and Akshay Tritiya are likely to fall on the same date next month.

In the wake of a controversy over the use of loudspeakers at religious places, authorities of five mosques in Pune and some other senior Muslim community members in Pune have decided to shun DJ music during the upcoming Eid celebrations.

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil on Wednesday said he will hold a meeting with the key leaders of all political parties and some organisations in the state before a final decision is taken over with the use of loudspeakers.

Amid a row over the use of loudspeakers near mosques, the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind unit in Maharashtra appealed to all mosques in the state to take permission from the state government in this regard.

Raising the pitch for Hindutva, MNS president Raj Thackeray on Sunday said he will visit Ayodhya on June 5 to take darshan of Lord Ram and appealed to "Hindu brothers" to "be prepared" if loudspeakers are not removed from mosques by May 3.

RSS-linked student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or ABVP, has started a campaign to stop the Azaan (Islamic prayer) playing over loudspeakers in the city and has asked permission to play the 'Hanuman Chalisa'.