MUMBAI: Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray on Friday questioned the use of loudspeaker for Azaan and went on to ask “who do they want to show?”.
Thackeray, while addressing a gathering of party workers on the occasion of Guru Purnima said advised the Muslims to offer Namaz at home so that nobody is disturbed.
“I always ask the Muslims, why they need loudspeaker for Azaan? Whom do they want to show? If they want to offer Namaz do it at home, why on roads?”
The MNS chief also pitched for the construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya but after the General Elections in 2019.
Controversy erupted on April 20 when some locals in Gurugram objected to the Muslim group offering Friday namaz (prayers) at a vacant plot in Phase III and asked to move to another place.
“We had been given space near Moulsari Metro station for Friday prayers, but it was being disrupted. We then moved to another park owned by the Haryana Urban Development Authority, but residents there objected as well,” Wajid Khan, head of the Nehru Yuva Sangathan Welfare Society Charitable Trust, told The Indian Express.
Earlier, singer-actor Sonu Nigam was caught in a controversy after he lashed out at “forced religiousness” in India after being woken up by the azaan (Islamic call to prayer) from a nearby mosque.
“God bless everyone. I’m not a Muslim and I have to be woken up by the azaan in the morning. When will this forced religiousness end in India,” Nigam posted on Twitter.
Nigam, defending his tweet had said, “I only spoke against the use of loudspeakers. Everybody has a right to his opinion. I have the right to have an opinion and it should not be misconstrued. Loudspeakers are not a necessity; they are not a part of any religion.”
ANI