'Azaan' controversy reaches Varanasi: Saffron outfits start reciting 'bhajans' five times a day

Saffron outfits said the recitation of bhajans and mantras had been an ancient tradition in Varanasi

The 'azaan' controversy has reached all the way to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency of Varanasi, where saffron outfits have installed loudspeakers atop several houses to recite the 'Hanuman Chalisa', 'bhajans' and other hymns, five times a day during the azaan.

President of Shrikashi Vishwanath Gyanvapi Movement and BJP member Sudhir Singh made the announcement on Thursday, saying that the recitation of bhajans and mantras had been an ancient tradition in Varanasi. "It was stopped under pressure during the non-BJP governments...we want to restart the old tradition," Singh said.

Saffron outfits were demanding a ban on 'azaan' through loudspeakers.

Also read: Hindutva group demands ban on illegal use of loudspeakers in mosques for 'azan'

Singh asked all the Hindu residents of Varanasi to install loudspeakers atop their houses and join the recitation five times a day. He, however, said that it was not his intention to disturb communal harmony in the town.

"If azan can be recited through loudspeakers from the mosques, then why can't we recite bhajans through the loudspeakers from the temples?" asked Roshan Pandey, president of the Rashtriya Hindu Dal.

Some Hindu seers, however, reacted sharply to the recitation of bhajans through loudspeakers. "Hinduism is not a reactionary religion. There are certain established traditions for puja. There is no provision like reciting bhajans three times or five times. The move is politically motivated," said a prominent Varanasi-based seer.

Earlier Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray had warned that his party workers would start reciting 'Hanuman Chalisa' at high decibel levels if the state government did not get the loudspeakers removed from the mosques in Maharashtra.

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