The row over allowing azaan or the Islamic call to prayer to play on loudspeakers has now reached Karnataka, as right-wing organisation Sri Ram Sene launched its protest against the government’s “failure to take action against loudspeakers installed at mosques.” At 5 am on Monday, May 9, Sri Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik was among a group of people gathered at the Hanuman temple in Mysuru, where they played devotional songs over loudspeakers.
On Sunday, Muthalik had said that the Sene would protest the government’s “failure to take action against loudspeakers installed at mosques.” He had said that in response to some mosques being allowed to use loudspeakers for the azaan before 6 am, the Sri Ram Sene would play the Hanuman Chalisa, Suprabhata or other devotional songs at 5 am at over 1,000 temples across Karnataka.
He asked Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai and Home Minister Araga Jnanendra to show the "guts" shown by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, by taking action against unauthorised loudspeakers from religious places and setting the volume of others within permissible limits. "Across Karnataka we have contacted more than 1,000 temples. Temple priests, Dharmadarshis and management committees have agreed to play (Hanuman Chalisa, Suprabhata, Omkara or devotional songs) at 5 am from tomorrow (May 9). There is a good response," Muthalik had claimed.
Nearly 54,000 unauthorised loudspeakers were removed from religious places and the volume of over 60,000 loudspeakers was set to permissible limits across Uttar Pradesh, as part of a state-wide drive, the state government had earlier said.
As part of its campaign against #loudspeakers in #mosques #sriramsene Pramod Muthalik carried out bhajans & Hanuman chalisa at Anjaneya temple in #Mysuru. Muthalik said #Karnataka govt has not implemented SC order & it should follow UP model (1/3) pic.twitter.com/RDzd9zHoUz
— Imran Khan (@KeypadGuerilla) May 9, 2022
While the group was planning to play Hindu devotional songs at 1,000 temples in the state, in Bengaluru, a group of Sri Ram Sene cadre were taken into preventative custody before they were able to play the songs at a temple in the city. Meanwhile, politicians in the state have urged Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai to make his stand clear on the issue. Senior Congress leaders including Nassir Hussein, UT Khader, NA Haris and others raised the issue with the CM on Monday.