Centre should bring policy on loudspeakers, says Maharashtra home minister amid row

New Delhi: Amid loudspeaker row in the state, Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said on Friday (May 6) that the Union government should come out with a policy on the use of the public address system. 

Talking to reporters after holding a meeting to review the law and order situation in the state, Dilip Walse-Patil thanked people from Hindu and Muslim communities for maintaining peace amid the loudspeaker row. 

"The Centre should bring a policy (on loudspeakers) for the entire country. But I will thank the Muslim and Hindu communities. This issue could be handled peacefully and law and order could be maintained in the state because of their cooperation,” Walse-Patil said, as per PTI. 

Last month, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray had demanded that the loudspeakers used in mosques be removed by May 3, failing which Hanuman Chalisa would be played at high volume to drown out azaan. 

In another development, an independent MP from Amravati Navneet Rana and her husband MLA Ravi Rana was released from prison in Mumbai a day earlier. They were arrested on April 23 on the charge of sedition after they announced to recite Hanuman Chalisa outside 'Matoshree', Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray's private residence in Mumbai. 

Meanwhile, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition that sought the installation of loudspeakers in a mosque, saying it is "not a fundamental right", ANI reported. 

As per the news agency, a division bench of the high court also said that delivering azaan is an “integral part of Islam, but giving it through loudspeakers is not a part of Islam.” 

(With agency inputs)