By Thomas Scaria
Mangaluru, May 9, 2022: People in Karnataka began from May 9 to get up at 5 am to pray, sing or curse.
Muslims in the southern Indian state start their day with Azaan announced through loudspeakers fit atop mosques. Hindus, on the hand, use the public address system to counter the Muslim call to prayer with “Suprabhata” and “Hanuman Chalisa” (hymns in praise of Lord Hanuman).
Pramod Muthalik, founder of the Sri Ram Sena (army of Lord Ram), on May 9 opened the Hindu prayer at 5 am in temples of Mysore temples. More than 1,000 Hindu temples in the state also did the same, he claimed.
A controversy over Muslim using loudspeakers to announce Azaan was reported from states such as Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. They have enacted laws to control the use of loudspeakers by any religious group. The Uttar Pradesh government of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), has removed 54,000 unauthorized loudspeakers from religious places.
The Karnataka government, led also by the BJP, is yet to enact a law on loudspeakers. However, it has succeeded in controlling Muslim girl students wearing veil in schools. Muslim traders are reportedly barred from Hindu festival while people are urged to avoid food prepared according to Muslim customs or Malls owned by Muslims.
The Karnataka police were on high alert as activists launched the chanting of Hanuman Chalisa against Azaan in the state. The government has warned action against noise pollution and served notices to the activists.
Muthalik had earlier asked the government to ban Azaan or allow the Hindu prayer at the same time through loudspeakers. He said his group would intensify the prayer campaign for an hour from 5 am.
The police on May 9 arrested the Hindu activists in Bengaluru, the state capital, as they got ready to sing their prayer at 5 am in a temple. The police have also deployed additional forces at various sensitive areas in the state to prevent possible sectarian clashes.
Meanwhile the Bengaluru police commissioner met the state chief minister to discuss some plans to control violence amid noise pollution.
Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra clarified that a court order prevails against noise pollution in the state and anyone violating it will be penalized.
The government has so far served 301 notices against loudspeakers to mosques, churches and temples, besides bars and party places.
Meanwhile Father Faustine Lobo, the spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Karnataka, regrets that people in Karnataka now start the day by challenging each other by praising one’s gods. Suprabhata is no longer a “good morning” in Karnataka, he told Matters India.
The Catholic priest also points out that Azaan is an ancient Muslim practice to ask people to get up early and praise God. They use loudspeakers. “But in modern age, the same could be done through many other ways without disturbing common people,” he explained.
About the Hindu group’s plan, he says one should not counter a wrong practice with another wrong step, “which will only lead to conflicts.”