Mosque Loudspeaker Controversy

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.

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.

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.

Singer Sonu Nigam's tweets against the use of loudspeakers for the azaan in mosques sparked a huge controversy last month

Sonu Nigam addressed the media on the controversy over his tweets and said: "You have to fight the fanatics, you can't just hide and comment from Twitter"

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.

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.

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.

Singer Sonu Nigam's tweets against the use of loudspeakers for the azaan in mosques sparked a huge controversy last month

Sonu Nigam addressed the media on the controversy over his tweets and said: "You have to fight the fanatics, you can't just hide and comment from Twitter"