Allahabad Inspector General of Police has written to the city’s District Magistrate directing him to enforce a ban on the use of loudspeakers between 10 PM and 6 AM. IG KP Singh’s letter to DM to Bhanu Chandra Goswami came after Allahabad University’s Vice-Chancellor Sangita Srivastava filed an official complaint against the use of loudspeakers by Muslims for the call of azaan in the morning prayers. Srivastava, in her complaint, has said that the morning azaan disturbed her sleep in the morning and impacted her work during the day.
In his letter to the Allahabad DM, the IG has directed the city officials to enforce the ban in accordance with the Supreme Court’s rule. However, netizens have been quick to detect a conspiracy ahead of the next year’s assembly polls. Many wondered if the same ban would be enforced on religious places belonging to other faiths, particularly Hindus.
Journalist Prashant Tandon made a profound point informing his followers on Twitter that the last call for prayers, azaan, is made in Ishaa around 8 in the evening, adding that there’s no azaan during the whole night until Fajr, which comes after 5 AM. He asked, “Does she (the VC) sleep during the day?”
ईशा की नमाज़ के लिए अज़ान रात 8 बजे से पहले होती है. इसके बाद कोई अज़ान नहीं है. फ़ज़र की नमाज़ के लिए अज़ान सुबह 5 बजे के बाद होती है.
ये क्या दिन में सोती हैं?
आप भारत में कहीं भी हों अज़ान के साथ मंदिर और गुरुद्वारे की भी प्रार्थनायें सुनाई देती हैं.
मामला नींद से आगे का है. https://t.co/UyK3kHjH6F— Prashant Tandon (@PrashantTandy) March 17, 2021
Others made similar points suspecting a larger conspiracy.
Agar aisa h toh mandiro me hone Wale bhajan kirtan shadi Party me use hone Wale dj raliyo me use hone Wale loud speaker sab ben hone chahiye 3 minute ki azan se tumhe dikkat puri puri raat dj bajte h kirtan hote h usse koi dikkat nahi azan se dikkat h… https://t.co/uk7Gykn4e1 pic.twitter.com/StaBQ297E6
— Ayaz Mansuri (@AyazMan16436888) March 19, 2021
Acha 5 minut ke Azan se nind kharab hoti hai aur mandir mein Jo raat raat bhar kirtan hota hai usse?
— Md /!/azim Saddiq (@AzimSaddiq) March 18, 2021
Sara bachpan Hamaare mohalle mein azan, mandir ke bhajan kirtan aur gurudware ki gurbaani saathh saathh sunayi deti thi…loudspeaker par aur subah tadke bhi…aur bahut achha lagta tha …
Woh bhi kya din thhe….— SalimRizvi (@RizviSalim) March 17, 2021
While allowing Muslims to recite azaan during the COVID-19 lockdown last year, the Allahabad High Court Bench comprising Justices Shashi Kant Guipta and Ajit Kumar had said that azaan was an essential and integral part of Islam. The Bench, however, had said that the use of loudspeakers âor other sound-amplifying devices could not be deemed as an integral part of the faith.
The high court had issued it verdict after hearing a host of pleas filed by MP Afzal Ansari and former Union Minister Salman Khurshid among others. The judges said that they were of the ‘considered opinion that azaan can be recited by muezzin (person reciting azaan) from minarets of the mosques by human voice without using any amplifying device and the administration is directed not to cause hindrance in the same on the pretext of the guidelines to contain the pandemic Covid¬19.
Uttar Pradesh goes to polls in February next year with Chief Yogi Adityanath facing widespread condemnation for the deterioration in law or order. Many suspect more communally divisive issues would be raised in the period leading up to the next year’s elections in a bid to distract voters from core issues.