"Is Allah deaf": BJP leader Eshwarappa stokes controversy over Azaan

Mangaluru: Senior BJP leader and former minister KS Eshwarappa made controversial remarks on using loudspeakers for Azaan which is likely to once again stoke a debate on it.

"In temples, girls and women offer prayers and bhajans. We are religious, but we don't use loudspeakers. If you have to call for prayers using loudspeakers, it means Allah is deaf," he said in a public rally here late yesterday evening.

He further said Azaan gives him a headache and added that the Supreme Court's judgment is due, and this issue will come to an end one day.

The use of loudspeakers for Azaan has been a hot topic with many people complaining of disturbance. The Supreme Court had in July 2005 banned the use of loudspeakers between 10 pm to 6 am, except in the cases of public emergencies, citing health impacts of noise pollution.

Later, in October 2005, the court said loudspeakers could be permitted to be used till midnight on festive occasions for 15 days a year.

In May 2020, lyricist Javed Akhtar had asked Azaan on loudspeakers should be stopped as it causes discomfort to others. He also had stated that for 50 years Azaan on loudspeakers was Haraam in India for almost 50 years. It became Halaal thereafter, he added.

"For more than a thousand years Azaan was given without the loudspeaker. Azaan is the integral part of your faith, not this gadget (loudspeaker). Whether it is a temple or a mosque, if you are using loudspeakers during a festival, it is fine. But it should not be used everyday in either temples or mosques," he said. (UNI)