Following protests from a local Hindu lawmaker, more than 900 mosques in Mumbai’s western suburbs agreed to reduce the level of call to prayer. Hardline Hindus are attempting to destroy India’s 200 million Muslims’ right to free worship and religious expression, according to Muslim leaders.
After protests from a local Hindu lawmaker, Maharashtra’s senior clerics in Mumbai said that over 900 mosques in the state’s western region had agreed to reduce the loudness of call to prayer.
Before he called the congregation to worship, Mohammed Ashfaq Kazi, the chief preacher of Mumbai’s largest mosque, checked a decibel meter attached to the loudspeakers.
“The volume of our Adhan (call to prayer) has become a political issue, but I don’t want it to become a communal turn,” said Kazi, one of India’s most powerful Islamic clerics.
He pointed to loudspeakers mounted on the minarets of Mumbai’s historic trading neighborhoods’ magnificent, sand-colored Juma Masjid.
In April, Raj Thackeray, the leader of a regional Hindu party, requested that mosques and other places of worship adhere to noise regulations. If they don’t, he says his supporters would protest by chanting Hindu prayers outside mosques.
