Kolkata, Aug 11 (IANS) Amid alleged police crackdown on loudspeakers used in religious places in West Bengal, Aam Janata Unnayan Party (AJUP) Chief Humayun Kabir said on Tuesday that rules regarding the use of the sound system should be evenly applicable to both temples and mosques.
His reaction came after several mosque as well as temple committees reportedly claimed the removal of loudspeakers from the places of worship by the police.
Speaking to IANS, Humayun Kabir said: “The Pollution Control Board does not permit noise levels above 65 decibels. Everyone will agree with that. Even the Supreme Court has issued an order regarding the 65-decibel limit. So, what is the problem? However, there should be a proper notification.”
“If there is no notification, the police should not forcibly remove the microphones (and loudspeakers). Everyone should follow the orders of the government and the judicial system. Everyone should follow the rules, whether it concerns a mosque or a temple because it can’t be that noise only from mosque create problems and not from temples,” he added.
The AJUP Chief urged the West Bengal-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government to issue a notification based on the Supreme Court’s directions which, he asserted, “should be followed by everyone”.
Meanwhile, a public interest litigation (PIL) was filed before a division bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday, seeking the withdrawal of the state government order on the removal of microphones and loudspeakers from all religious places in West Bengal.
The PIL was filed by four-time Trinamool Congress Lok Sabha member and senior advocate Kalyan Banerjee on behalf of Danish Faruqi, a lawyer himself.
The petitioner has questioned the legal sanction behind the court order to remove loudspeakers and microphones from religious places, especially mosques.
A single‑judge bench of the Calcutta High Court on Monday granted conditional permission for a protest rally on Tuesday against the West Bengal government’s order on the removal of microphones and loudspeakers from all religious places in the state.
Earlier, opposition parties accused the BJP-led state government of specially targeting mosques.
However, Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari clarified that the action was not limited to mosques but applied to all religious places, including temples.
–IANS
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