DH Toon | Enough! Stop pitting one against the other

As Maharashtra's loudspeaker row echoes through the country, the Allahabad High Court has made a ruling saying that the use of loudspeakers in mosques is not a fundamental right.

The use of loudspeakers for ‘azaan’ (call to prayer from mosques) and ‘bhajan recitals’ in temples has been a cause of dissension across the country for a while now.

A bench comprising Justice Vivek Kumar Birla and Justice Vikas Budhwar made the ruling while hearing the petition by a person named Irfan. He had challenged the order by authorities concerned that had denied him permission to use loudspeaker/mike in a mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Badaun district.

Describing loudspeakers in mosques as "a social and not a religious issue”, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena President Raj Thackeray last week asked people of the state to play Hanuman Chalisa “double the volume” if loudspeakers are played in mosques, post-Ramzan-Eid.

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