Amid the loudspeaker row in the state of Maharashtra, the Mumbai Police on Saturday stated that out of 1140 mosques in Mumbai, 950 had been granted permission to use the loudspeaker for prayers. It added that the Mosques in the city follow the Apex court and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) guidelines on the use of loudspeakers
According to the reports, the Police received applications from 1,140 mosques across the city to seek permission to use loudspeakers for reciting Azaan. However, only one percent of the total temples in the city had applied for permission. The Police on Friday granted permission to 950 mosques to use the loudspeakers for offering prayers while only 24 out of 2400 temples were granted permission.
Pertinently, this is for the first time that thousands of mosques in Mumbai have applied to the police for permission to use loudspeakers for reciting Azaan. The applications started coming to Mumbai police in the past two weeks, especially after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray raked up the issue and called upon the state government to pull down loudspeakers from atop the mosques across the state.
Thackeray in his Aurangabad rally on May 1 had warned that if the loudspeakers were not taken down from atop the mosques from May 4, his party workers would play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers in front of the mosques. Reportedly, many of the MNS workers played Hanuman Chalisa during the morning Azaan time in Mumbai, Nashik, Pune, and other parts of Maharashtra. They were detained by the Police on the charges of disturbing peace and harmony.
The MNS chief had also said that there were 1140 mosques in Mumbai out of which 135 mosques acted against the Supreme Court’s decision even after several warnings. The Supreme Court in the year 2005 had issued an order in which it had banned the usage of loudspeakers from 10 pm to 6 am in public places. The court had then considered the serious effects of noise pollution on the health of the people living in the nearby areas.
The Mumbai Police on Saturday said that it permitted the religious places to use loudspeakers only after verifying the credentials of the applicants, the purpose, and the intention behind using the loudspeakers. While the Police said that it received applications from 1140 mosques and 24 temples, the total number of applications received from the other religious places like Gurudwaras and Churches is being evaluated.
