Azaan row politically motivated, say clerics

LUCKNOW: Prominent clerics on Friday reacted sharply to the ongoing controversy over azaan through loudspeakers and termed it politically motivated. Some of them said they would seek chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s intervention in the matter. They appealed to the people to not pay any heed to “such baseless issues”.

“India is known for its GangaJamuni culture. We have been living together for ages here. We never had any problem with the ringing of temple bells or from evening ‘aarti’, nor our Hindu brethren had any problem with azaan. It is all politically motivated. I don’t understand why such issues crop up ahead of elections?” said Maulana Yasoob Abbas, general secretary of the All-India Shia Personal Law Board (AISPLB).

Mufti Ahsan Raza Qadri, Sajjadnasheen of the Dargah Aala Hazrat in Bareilly, said such issues were raised to gain “cheap publicity”.

“It is all politically driven, people should not react to such controversies,” said Raza Qadri. Besides, other clerics too strongly opposed the issue and demanded CM’s intervention in the issue.

The controversy erupted earlier this month when Allahabad Central University (Prayagraj) vice chancellor Prof Sangita Srivastava wrote a letter to the district magistrate (DM), demanding that early morning azaan through loudspeakers be stopped at a mosque near her home. In her letter, the vice chancellor had said the loud azaan disturbed her sleep.

Later, UP minister of state for parliamentary affairs and rural development wrote a letter to the Ballia district administration, seeking regulating the volume of loudspeakers from mosques.

THE CONTROVERSY ERUPTED EARLIER THIS MONTH WHEN AU VC PROF SANGITA WROTE A LETTER TO DM