Two NCPI MPs from Murshidabad, West Bengal, met with Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari to express concerns over the removal of mosque loudspeakers, alleging police overreach and targeting of Muslims. They also sought his intervention to expedite hearings for approximately 27 lakh people excluded from electoral rolls, highlighting difficulties faced by genuine voters due to delays in tribunal decisions.
After the anti-halal meat drive, right-wing outfits led by Bajrang Dal and Sriram Sena have now called for a ban on loudspeakers in mosques.
Nationalist Citizens Party of India leader Abu Taher attended a breakfast meeting hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for NDA allies but asserted that his party is not part of the ruling alliance. He stated his attendance was solely to raise public issues directly with the Prime Minister.
Days after violence erupted over a survey of a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, an imam of another mosque was fined Rs 2 lakh for allegedly using a loudspeaker at high volume. The incident occurred in the Anar Wali Masjid, prompting authorities to take action. The imam, identified as Tahzeeb, was fined and granted bail, with orders to refrain from similar conduct for six months. The incident comes amid ongoing tensions in Sambhal following the November 24 violence during a court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid, which resulted in four deaths and several injuries. The incident has become a major political controversy, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra raising the issue in Parliament.
The police have launched a crackdown against the use of directional loudspeakers (devices that focus sound in a specific direction) at religious structures in Mumbai pursuant to a court order.
Kabir cut a ceremonial ribbon alongside visiting clerics on the dais as slogans of "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allahu Akbar" were raised at the venue, where thousands had gathered since morning.
Urging the Uttar Pradesh government to ensure best facilities for Muslims during the holy month of Ramzan, the state minorities commission has claimed that the local authorities are forcibly removing even those loudspeakers from mosques that had been installed as per the rules.
Modi should implement the Uniform Civil Code in this country, Thackeray said.
The petition, filed by Bajrang Dal leader Shaktisinh Zala, claimed that "noise pollution" caused by azan when played through loudspeakers affects people's, especially children's health and causes inconvenience otherwise.
While 72 per cent of mosques have stopped using loudspeakers for morning prayer, many others have reduced the volume of loudspeakers, claimed a police official.
As per statistics available with the Mumbai police, only 1 per cent of the temples in the metropolis have obtained permission to use loudspeakers in their premises, an official said.
During this Ramzan, another religious practice was turned into an offence: Breaking the fast, or iftar.
An editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said the issue is of noise pollution and environment protection. 'The Centre should promulgate an ordinance to stop loudspeakers on mosques to prevent noise pollution,' it said.
The Allahabad high court on Friday ruled that delivering the azaan on loudspeakers is not a fundamental right.
Patna High Court took serious objections to the use of loudspeakers at a mosque near it on Friday.
In a post on X, Thackeray also claimed that those who attended Bhagwat's programme in Mumbai on February 7-8 to mark the RSS centenary did not come out of love for him but due to the fear of Narendra Modi's government.
They also appealed to youth from the community not to play loud DJ music during the Eid al-Fitr celebration on May 2.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Drones were sighted and explosions were heard in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, a day after India thwarted attempts by the Pakistan military to attack Indian military installations using drones and missiles. The drones were also engaged in Udhampur and Nagrota of Jammu and Punjab. Heavy cross-border shelling started along the International Border in Suchetgarh and Ramgarh sectors of Jammu and Samba districts. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah appealed to residents to stay indoors and ignore rumors.
The RSS uses its resentment against mosques and loudspeakers to stoke anti-Muslim feelings among other Hindus, whenever it can, be it during riots, or before elections, says Jyoti Punwani.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray will not participate in the all-party meeting called by the state government to resolve the loudspeaker dispute, MNS leader Sandeep Deshpande said on Monday.
Addressing a public rally in Aurangabad late in the evening, in which he was termed as 'Hindu Jananayak', the MNS chief said if Uttar Pradesh government could remove the loudspeakers, what was stopping the Maharashtra government, led by his estranged cousin Uddhav Thackeray, from doing so.
Walse Patil said MNS chief Raj Thackeray will also be invited for the meeting.
Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray on Tuesday held a meeting of his party leaders from Mumbai, Thane, Nashik and other divisions regarding his visit to Ayodhya in June.
Mumbai has 1,104 mosques of which 135 used loudspeakers during the morning namaz on Wednesday, he claimed, seeking to know what action was being taken against these mosques 'which violated the law.'
Loudspeakers will be removed from masjids, Bal Thackeray said in the old clip.
A day after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray reiterated his warning to take down loudspeakers from mosques by May 3, the state home department on Monday stated that the use of loudspeakers at religious sites will only be allowed with due permission.
Jayant Naiknavare, who took over as the Nashik commissioner of police last week, has cancelled the order given by his predecessor Deepak Pandey over loudspeakers.
The real surprise in these results came from Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM. Of the 29 Muslim candidates who got elected to the 227-strong BMC, the Congress and the AIMIM between them bagged 22.
It is the Hindu community that has faced the biggest setback as far as the issue of loudspeakers is concerned, the Sena MP added.
In an open letter, he asked people to lodge complaint with the police by dialling 100 if they are distributed by the sound of 'azaan'.
Against the backdrop the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's demand to remove loudspeakers from mosques, the Maharashtra director general of police on Tuesday instructed the officials to enforce the law and Supreme Court's guidelines on the issue strictly.
In a video, an MNS worker, holding the party flag, was seen playing the Hanuman Chalisa on a loudspeaker from a high-rise in Mumbai.
The move comes after some right-wing outfits launched a campaign demanding shutting down of such loudspeakers, saying they caused disturbance for people living in surrounding areas.
A statewide drive undertaken to remove unauthorised loudspeakers from religious places and set the volume of others within permissible limits began on April 25.
Some Hindu outfits have been demanding that the loudspeakers on mosques should be removed and the Supreme Court's order on noise pollution be implemented.
Following the direction of the Uttar Pradesh government, nearly 11,000 loudspeakers have been removed from religious places till Wednesday evening.
The action followed Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's directions during his last week's review meeting on law and order with senior officials.
There were reports of such incidents at temples in various places including Bengaluru, Hubballi, Belagavi, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru, Yadgir, Mandya and Kolar among other places.
However, the court directed the authorities to implement the 'Noise Pollution Rules' related to loudspeakers and file a compliance report.
