Rupam Jin

MUMBAI (Reuters – Mohammed Ashfaq Kazi was seated in an office surrounded with books that overlooks a huge prayer hall. Before he spoke, a decibel meter was attached to his loudspeakers.

Kazi said that “the volume of our call to prayer (azaan) has become an issue of politics, but it doesn’t need to be a communal one.” He is one of the leading Islamic scholars living in Mumbai, a sprawling city on India’s west coast.

He pointed out loudspeakers that were attached to minarets in Mumbai’s former trading areas.

Three senior Maharashtra clerics, including Kazi, said that more than 900 mosques located in Maharashtra’s west had signed an agreement to reduce the volume of calls for prayer after complaints by a Hindu politician.

Raj Thackeray is the leader of a local Hindu party. He demanded that all places of worship, including mosques, keep within noise restrictions. He threatened that his supporters would protest by chanting Hindu prayers outside of mosques if they didn’t comply.

Thackeray said that his party holds only one seat in the 288-member state assembly. He was simply insisting on enforcement of court noise level rulings.

If religion is private, then why can Muslims use loudspeakers throughout the year (365 days)? Thackeray said this to reporters at Mumbai, India’s financial capital and capital of Maharashtra.

He said, “My dear Hindu sisters, brothers and mothers join together to bring down these loudspeakers”

India’s leaders of 200 million Muslims view the timing of Eid as another attempt by Hindu hardliners to limit their freedom to worship, according to tacit agreement with Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindu nationalist ruling party (BJP).

A senior leader of BJP has been pushing to replace marriage and inheritance laws based upon religion with a uniform code civil. He is referring to rules that permit Muslim men to have four wives, as an example.

Thackeray’s request for comments from the BJP was not answered by them. They deny targeting minorities but say they want progressive change for all Indians.

POLICE STEP IN

Kazi stated that he had agreed to Thackeray’s demands at the Juma Masjid in an effort to lessen the violence between Hindus and Muslims.

Since independence of India, there have been occasional bloody clashes across India. Most recently, in 2020, dozens of Muslims were murdered in Delhi after protests against a citizenship bill that Muslims claimed discriminated against Muslims.

Kazi stated that, despite the efforts of Hindu extremist leaders to subvert Islam, Muslims must maintain peace and tranquility.

Thackeray’s idea was taken seriously by the state.

Kazi, a senior officer in police, met Kazi, a religious leader, earlier this month. This was to make sure that microphones weren’t turned on, because they were concerned about clashes within Maharashtra. Maharashtra is home to more then 10 million Muslims, and over 70 million Hindus.

Police in Mumbai filed a criminal complaint against two men for using loudspeakers during the morning azaan. They also warned Thackeray party workers from gathering near mosques.

V.N. stated that “Under no circumstance will we permit anyone to cause communal tension within the state, and the court’s order must be observed.” Patil, an important Mumbai police official.

Thackeray’s Party senior official said the idea was not meant to exclude Muslims. It is intended to lower “noise polluting” caused by all worship places.

Kirtikumar Shinde stated, “Our party doesn’t appease the minor community.” He also said that police have issued warnings this month to over 20,000 party workers.

Maharashtra is not the only country that has issues with calls to pray. Three states in which BJP lawmakers resided requested that local police limit loudspeaker use in worship places.

Uttar Pradesh’s deputy chief minister said that over 60,000. Unauthorized loudspeakers were removed from temples and mosques.