Sound policy receives all-round welcome
Many places of worship lower the volume, some remove loudspeakers after CM’s directive to ensure that the sound stays within the premises and doesn’t cause inconvenience to people
LUCKNOWI: Uttar Pradesh’s religious leaders gave their thumbs up to the chief minister’s statement that suggests limiting the volume of loudspeakers at religious places in order to avoid inconvenience to those residing nearby.
Reacting to the chief minister’s directive, some districts, including Mathura and Kanpur, saw voluntary steps to either let loudspeakers remain silent or remove them from temples.
Besides, in several districts, senior clerics have come forward and asked the mosque committees to reduce the volume of loudspeakers in compliance with the CM’s directive.
Clerics in Lucknow were perhaps the first to take the initiative after Mathura, where loudspeakers atop Bhagwat Bhavan at Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi, remained silent on Wednesday.
The chief minister had ordered that the sound of the loudspeaker should not come out of the premises and microphones should not be installed at new places.
“We welcome CM’s order and we believe that it is a general order. We have directed all the mosques here to limit the sound of the loudspeakers and to ensure that it may not come out of the premises,” said Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali, Imam Eidgah in Lucknow.
The Sunni cleric said similar directives have been issued to all the Sunni mosques in the state capital. The city has 700 Sunni mosques and around 40 Shia mosques. Shia clerics, too, supported the order and issued directives to limit the sound of loudspeakers at mosques.
“We welcome the CM’s stand on the use of loudspeakers at religious places. We have directed the mosques to limit it as per the Supreme Court’s guidelines,” said Maulana Yasoob Abbbas, general secretary of the All India Shia Muslim Personal Law Board (AISMB).
The temples in the state capital, too, saw a similar exercise where the volume of the loudspeakers has been reduced.
Police in touch with places of worship
Over 40 temples, mosques and gurudwaras have been approached and asked to ensure the proper use of loud speakers, said Lucknow commissioner of police DK Thakur on Wednesday.
He said the state government directive on loudspeakers has been conveyed properly to the management and organising committees of different places of worship.
He said all police station in-charges, additional commissioners of police, additional deputy commissioners of police and deputy commissioners of police have already been asked to hold meetings with religious leaders and clerics to convey the guidelines properly.
He said they have been asked to ensure strict compliance with guidelines and everybody has agreed unanimously to it.
The police commissioner said the police would issue notice or take legal action if any violation of the guideline is reported.
He said it should be ensured that the sound of the loudspeakers should be limited within the premises and should not disturb others in the locality. UP police additional director general, Law and Order, Prashant Kumar said a circular has been issued to all district police chiefs for compliance with the chief minister’s order. He also said the police officials have been directed to conduct meetings with people associated with different organising committees to ensure 100% compliance with the directives. “Most of the districts’ police and the commissionerate police are working on it by holding meetings,” he added.
Use of loudspeakers at high decibels is wrong. Efforts to ensure that the guidelines set are implemented strictly and uniformly on all is a welcome move MAULANA MOHSIN TAQVI, Imame Jumma of Shia Jama Masjid, Prayagraj