‘Selective targeting’: Mumbai dargahs move HC against police action on loudspeakers
“The whole action is against the Muslim community and is hostile discrimination. This is in violation of fundamental rights,” the petition alleged
Five dargahs from Mumbai’s eastern suburbs have filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, alleging that city police are selectively targeting Muslim places of worship by issuing notices to remove loudspeakers used for Azaan, citing noise pollution violations. The petitioners claim the actions are discriminatory and carried out without following due process.
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While the police maintained that action was being taken against loudspeakers at all religious structures, the petition filed by the five dargahs (tombs built over graves of revered religious figures like Muslim saints) claimed otherwise.
Selective targeting?
The petition claimed worshippers at these dargahs are affected by the police’s “selective targeting” of mosques and dargahs. The plea challenged the notices issued to them by the police for violation of Noise Pollution Control Rules.
“The whole action is against the Muslim community and is hostile discrimination. This is in violation of fundamental rights,” the petition alleged. The petition filed by Anjuman Ittehad o TaraqquI Madinah Masjid, Hazrat Shamsuddin Baba Dargah, Masjid Ahl-Hadees-W-Madrasa Arabiya Dar-ul-Huda, Mubarak Masjid and Masjid-e-Aqsa claims that hundreds of places of worship across the city have been affected, according to a report in Live Law.
The plea states that the notices issued by Mumbai police fail to mention the exact date, time or decibel levels of the alleged violations under the Noise Pollution Rules, 2000.
Next hearing on July 9
“All the notices are issued which give no particulars of the date and time of the alleged violations nor the measurement of decibels at the time of the alleged violations. The whole movement is targeting the Muslim community and is an instance of hostile discrimination. This is, therefore, in violation of the fundamental rights under Articles 14 and 15 of the Constitution of India,” the petition reads, as reported by Live Law.
Senior Advocate Yusuf Muchala, along with Advocates Karim Pathan, Altaf Khan, Rashda Ainapore and Aqil Khan, represented the petitioners. The matter came up before a division bench of Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Milind Sathaye, which on Tuesday issued notices to the Maharashtra government, Mumbai police and the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB), directing them to file their responses by July 9, the next date of hearing.
According to Live Law, the petitioners further allege that the police are acting under the influence of vested political interests, using the notices to impose fines, deny or revoke licence renewals, and in some cases, seize loudspeakers without prior warning.
'Online Azan'
Meanwhile, several mosques in the city have begun adopting a technological workaround to continue delivering the call to prayer. At least six mosques in Mumbai have now registered with the “Online Azan” app, a mobile platform developed by a Tamil Nadu-based company, that streams the Azaan directly to worshippers’ phones in real-time, PTI reported.
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The app, available on Android and iPhone, works by allowing users to select their locality and the nearest mosque, from which they receive live notifications and audio whenever the Azaan is delivered. It also serves as a prayer time notifier and runs automatically once configured.
The app’s co-founder, Mohammed Ali, was cited by PTI as saying that the company already works with 250 mosques in Tamil Nadu. Mosques are required to submit an application, address proof and the Aadhaar details of the muezzin (the person who gives the call to prayer) to register.