Over 900 mosques in the west of the state also turn the volume down on calls to prayer following Hindu politician threats

By MD Mesha 

NEW DELHI (TSAT) - Under the anti-Muslim policies of the Hindu nationalist BJP government, the western Maharashtra state banned morning Azaan (call to prayer) on the loudspeakers.

On Saturday, Mumbai police arrested two Muslim religious leaders in connection with violating the government order to ban Azaan in loudspeakers for the morning prayer, the Hindustan Times reported. 

The state government also asked the Muslims to turn down the volumes of loudspeakers after a Hindu nationalist politician Raj Thackeray threatened to hold protests outside the mosques if Muslims do not keep their worship within the allowed limit. 

According to Reuters, over 900 mosques in the state have turned the volume down on calls to prayer following Thackeray warning.

"The volume of our azaan (call to prayer) has become a political issue, but I don't want it to take a communal turn," the agency quoted Mohammed Ashfaq Kazi, the main preacher at the largest mosque in Mumbai as saying,

The Muslims agreed with state authorities’ order as Thackeray warned that If they did not stop the use of loudspeakers then he along with his followers would chant Hindu prayers outside mosques in protest.

Raj Thackeray is the nephew of Bal Thackeray and his party is a breakaway from Shiv Sena.

Last week, the Hindu judges of Allahabad High Court also ruled that the use of loudspeakers in mosques is not protected by fundamental rights.

BJP- led government in Uttar Pradesh, where a hardliner Yogi Adityanath is ruling the state, has already removed over 60,000 loudspeakers from mosques. 

Analysts fear that the current surge in anti-Muslim actions by the state authorities could lead to serious communal tension in the Hindu majority South Asian country.

Last month, one person was killed and several others wounded in clashes between the Hindus and Muslims in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and New Delhi.

Later, the government also demolished hundreds of houses and shops of Muslims and accused them of carrying out attacks on Hindu processions. 

On Sunday, MP Pratap Simha demanded the Chief Minister of Karnataka to follow the Yogi and impose a ban on loudspeakers in the state

“CM Basavaraj Bommai too should follow this,” Deccan Herald quoted.