Luknow: The loudspeaker controversy began in Maharashtra, when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray asked that loudspeakers be removed from mosques, threatening that if they were not removed, his party’s workers would perform daily Hanuman Chalisa and bhajans.
Now Tejashwi Yadav, the leader of the opposition in Bihar, has joined the debate. The Leader of Opposition in Bihar said, “I want to ask a question to those who have made an issue out of loudspeakers. They were invented in 1925 and have been used in temples and mosques of India since the 1970s. Didn’t God exist when loudspeakers were not there? Didn’t prayer happen without loudspeakers?”
In another tweet, Yadav also questioned why there wasn’t any focus in public discussions on unemployment, inflation, condition of farmers and labourers. “Why is there a discussion on this (loudspeaker and bulldozers)? People are being misled. They are being deviated from the real issues,” the RJD leader said, adding the lives of people who are not finding employment are getting ruined.
The loudspeaker row erupted in Maharashtra when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) president Raj Thackeray demanded that loudspeakers be removed from mosques, warning if they are not removed, his party workers would play Hanuman Chalisa and bhajans daily.
Several opposition leaders in the state came out in support of Thackeray but the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)-led state government condemned the MNS president’s demand and said it will raise the issue with the Centre.
The loudspeaker row has spread to other states in the country as well including, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Nitish Kumar, the chief minister of Bihar, downplayed the debate about the use of loudspeakers, claiming that his government does not interfere with religious customs.
“Let us not talk about this nonsense. It is known to all that in Bihar we do not interfere in religious practices of any sort. Of course, some people think it is their business to make a fuss and they keep at it,” Kumar told reporters in Purnea on Saturday, news agency PTI reported.
Kumar’s comments, come as some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in the state demanded that Bihar should follow the Yogi model in Uttar Pradesh- where authorities removed thousands of loudspeakers from places of worship, citing health hazards posed by high decibel sounds.
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.
