Uproar in India: Muslim Community Rises to Defend Azan's Reverberating Call

Community leaders and legal advocates unite in Mumbai to challenge unilateral police actions against mosque loudspeakers, asserting fundamental rights and cultural preservation in the face of rising anti-Muslim sentiment.

A profound disquiet has enveloped Mumbai's Muslim community as police efforts to remove loudspeakers from mosques intensify, prompting swift and resolute action from religious institutions, community leaders, and legal advocates. This escalating situation, marked by petitions in the Bombay High Court, fervent meetings of imams, and determined, though thwarted, attempts to engage political leadership, underscores a collective resolve to protect the revered practice of the Azan.

On Monday, a powerful legal challenge was mounted by five Muslim religious institutions in Parksite, Vikhroli. Represented by senior counsel Yusuf Muchhala and A Karim Pathan of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, these institutions are contesting the arbitrary and heavy-handed manner in which police are attempting to enforce loudspeaker removal. This legal move highlights the community's commitment to upholding due process and ensuring that actions against places of worship are not conducted in violation of established legal principles.

Further galvanizing the community, Samajwadi Party state president Abu Asim Azmi, MLA from Mankhurd Shivaji Nagar, addressed a significant gathering of 200 imams and masjid committee members in Govandi on Tuesday. Azmi passionately urged them to stand firm and demand that police produce any official order mandating the removal of loudspeakers. "If they cannot show you the order, tell them to give instructions in writing," he powerfully advised, empowering imams to resist undocumented directives.

Imams present at the meeting shared a common experience of subtle coercion by law enforcement. They described a "fixed modus operandi" where police suggest mosques in adjacent areas have "voluntarily removed" loudspeakers, pressuring committees to follow suit under threat of notices. This tactic, designed to erode collective resistance, is being met with growing awareness and defiance.

Imran Qureshi, a steadfast mosque committee member, exemplified this resolve by directly challenging police to show him the order. He rightly pointed out, "They cited the high court order. But the court has not said that loudspeakers should be removed; it has only said that the volume must be kept low." Qureshi's principled stand – refusing to remove the loudspeaker in the absence of a legitimate, written order – serves as an inspiring example of civil courage and adherence to legal rights.

Adding to the chorus of protest, the Govandi Citizens Welfare Forum on Monday formally communicated their outrage to the police and the Chief Minister’s Office. Their emails vehemently protested the removal of loudspeakers "without notice, explanation or due process, in violation of our fundamental rights." The forum pointedly highlighted that there is no ban on Azan through loudspeakers and critically, that other places of worship continue their loudspeaker usage unimpeded. They urgently requested top-rung police officers to convene a meeting with community representatives, emphasizing the need for dialogue and a fair resolution.

Disturbingly, Maulana Abdur Rehman Ziyahee in Govandi claimed active collaboration between BJP leader and former MLA Kirit Somaiya and the police in these removal efforts. Somaiya's recent tweets, boasting about the removal of all loudspeakers from masjids in Bhandup, Chembur, and Govandi, lend credence to concerns of a politically motivated campaign.

While Azmi indicated he would not raise the matter in the upcoming monsoon session of the legislature, citing concerns about BJP's potential to "polarise the atmosphere," the community's grassroots mobilization and legal challenges demonstrate an unwavering commitment to defending the Azan. The call to prayer, resonating through loudspeakers, is not merely a sound but a cherished beacon of faith, identity, and communal harmony, the protection of which remains a non-negotiable right for Muslims across India.