New Delhi: A day after Supreme Court made it clear that the BJP heavyweights need to be tried for criminal conspiracy in the Babri Masjid demolition case, the Sangh Parivar’s Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) launched a drive against loudspeakers being used for Azaan (prayer) in the mosques.
Perhaps taking a cue from playback singer, Sonu Nigam’s objection to loudspeakers being used for azaan, the HJM called it a “drive against noise pollution in the mosques.”
While the campaign is certain to kick up a storm and could be viewed as an act of pursuing a communal agenda, HJM member from Mirzapur, Diwakar Mishra told this correspondent that the drive was “not communal.”
He argued that gurudwaras too use loudspeakers, but, only during Sikh festivals. “We are not against azaan but against the use of loudspeakers on a regular basis,” he said. He said, “If you go on hearing something loud every day, it is nothing but noise pollution.”
The HJM which has demanded that the state administration should deploy officials to make sure that loudspeakers are removed from the mosques would be submitting a memorandum in this regard to the UP chief minister shortly. However, the HJM has no objection to the use of loudspeakers during Eid and Ramadan.