Azaan Row: Maha Home Min Dilip Walse Patil To Meet DGP; Cabinet Meeting at 4

Walse had met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday.

Maharashtra Cabinet Minister Dilip Walse-Patil.

(File Photo: IANS)

Maharashtra Home Minister Dilip Walse Patil is scheduled to meet the state's Director General of Police Rajnish Seth on Wednesday, 20 April, ahead of the Cabinet meeting at 4 pm, to discuss the law and order situation in the state and the issue of the use of loudspeakers in public places, ANI reported.

Patil had said on Tuesday that there was no need to go to the Cabinet for issuing guidelines on the use of loudspeakers in public places in the state. He also said there is no time limit for issuing guidelines as talks with all the stakeholders need to be held first.

On Monday, Patil said that the use of loudspeakers at religious sites in the state would be allowed only with prior permission.

Walse Patil also met Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Monday to discuss the said issues.

Political temperatures in the state heated up after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray said on Sunday that if the Maharashtra government failed to remove loudspeakers atop mosques by 3 May, Hanuman Chalisa would be played at a higher volume outside mosques.

Mosques Must Take Permission for Loudspeakers: Muslim Body in Maharashtra

Meanwhile, the Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind unit in Maharashtra appealed to all mosques in the state to take permission from the state government before using loudspeakers, reported ANI.

Gulzar Azami, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind Secretary of the Maharashtra unit, said, "Most of the mosques in the state have taken permission from the police departments for using loudspeakers. However, I still appeal mosques in the state who have not taken permission for the use of loudspeakers in mosques for Azaan should take the permission."

"The police in the state is very cooperative," he further said, adding that the police department was giving permission for the same.

He also appreciated the state government for handling the issue of loudspeakers and said that the Maharashtra government was working to provide justice to all.

(With inputs from ANI.)