The objection to the loudspeaker volume by the Uttar Pradesh minister came days after a similar complaint was made by Allahabad University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sangita Srivastava.
Team Clarion
BALLIA — After the Allahabad University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sangita Srivastava’s complaint to the district magistrate urging him to take action on the use of loudspeakers for Azaan as it was ‘disturbing’ for her, now a Uttar Pradesh Minister has raised objection to the volume of amplifiers used by the mosques to call for prayers.
Uttar Pradesh Minister Anand Swaroop Shukla has sent a letter to the Ballia district magistrate, saying the volume of loudspeakers at mosques should be fixed according to the court orders since he is facing difficulty in discharging his duties, reports IANS.
“Namaz is offered five times in a day. As a result of it, I face problems in doing Yoga, meditation, puja (worship) and discharging government duties,” Shukla said in the letter, referring to the Kajipura Madina Masjid in his constituency.
The minister also mentioned that there are a number of schools in the vicinity of the mosque and the ‘azaan’ hampers their studies.
“Religious publicity takes place through loudspeakers. Information regarding donations for the construction of mosques is disseminated in an extremely loud volume. This has an adverse impact on students, elder citizens and the health of patients. The common public is facing extreme noise pollution,” he said, according to the report.
He urged the Ballia district magistrate to fix the volume of loudspeakers at the mosques in Ballia according to orders of the Allahabad High Court while unnecessary ones should be removed.
He, however, failed to mention the use of loudspeakers at other places of worship as we are a part of diverse culture where every religious community enjoy freedom to practice their religion and temples and mosques are generally found side by side.
Earlier, similar complaint was made by Allahabad University Vice Chancellor Prof. Sangita Srivastava objecting to the use of loudspeakers for Azaan in mosques.
Srivastava had complained to the district magistrate that she is forced to wake up too early everyday due to ‘azaan’ on a loudspeaker, urging the official to take action. Srivastava had also said the sleep disruption leads to headache through the day, impacting her work.
Asserting that she is not against any religion, the vice chancellor had suggested that it can be recited even without a loudspeaker so that it does not cause discomfort to others.
She had also referred to an Allahabad High Court order in this regard, requesting the district magistrate to take prompt action in the matter.
Her complaint letter to the District Magistrate demanding curb on the use of loudspeaker for Azaan drew sharp reactions from various quarters including Islamic scholars of Shia and Sunni school of thoughts.
Sunni cleric Sufyan Nizami questioned her claim saying that how does a 2-minute Azaan disturb his sleep while the use of loudspeaker in temples and during Hindu festivals does not disturb her?
In a country of diverse culture, people from different religions use loudspeakers for religious purposes but Muslims never opposed that, he said.
(With agency inputs)
