Loudspeaker row: Police ask mosques in Karnataka not to violate noise pollution rule
Bengaluru, Apr 6: Mosques in Karnataka have started receiving notices from the police to use their loudspeakers within the permissible decibel levels.
The move comes after some right-wing outfits launched a campaign demanding shutting down of such loudspeakers, saying they caused disturbance for people living in surrounding areas.
In Bengaluru alone, about 250 mosques have received such notices and the mosque authorities have started installing devices that keeps the sound within the permissible level, sources said.
The Karnataka Director General of Police (DGP) Praveen Sood has directed all the police commissioners, inspectors general of police and the superintendents of police to check violation of noise pollution rules by religious institutions', pubs, night clubs and other institutions and at functions.
Some outfits had submitted memoranda to various police officers on Tuesday requesting them to check the "misuse" of loudspeakers from mosques which, they alleged, has been going on even in the silent zones such as hospitals, important government offices, schools and colleges.
The outfits alleged that the blaring loudspeakers of mosques disturb sleep in the morning causing discomfort to students, patients, elderly people and those who work at night.
Following the direction from the DGP, the Bengaluru police started issuing notices to the mosques.
Khateeb-o-Imam of Jamiya Masjid in Bengaluru, Maqsood Imran said the mosques in Bengaluru have started installing devices on their loudspeakers after the Bengaluru city police served them notices.
Over 200 to 250 mosques in Bengaluru have received the notice. We have been told to maintain the sound level. They have said that the directions issued by the Supreme Court need to be adhered to and if the orders are not followed then action will be initiated, the Imam told PTI.
He added that the mosque authorities have started fitting the device with the amplifier, which ensures that the sound does not cross the permissible level.
We also want to ensure that the Supreme Court order is followed. That's why we have readied the device and started fixing it in all the mosques. That device has already been installed in our Jamiya Masjid," he said.
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We will move court again to resist voter deletions: Mamata
Kolkata (PTI): West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the BJP and the Election Commission over voter deletions during the SIR exercise and said her party will move a court again to resist the removal of electors from the rolls.
Her comments came after nearly 91 lakh voters' names were deleted from the electoral rolls following the completion of the Special Intensive Revision in the state.
“You will not be able to defeat the TMC by deleting names. We will move a court again to resist the exclusion of names," Banerjee said while attacking her principal challenger BJP over the roll revision exercise.
Banerjee had in February argued in the Supreme Court as she sought an intervention in the SIR process.
The EC figures, which pushed the total deletion to over 90.83 lakh names from the original voter base of 7.66 crore in October 2025, showed that the proportion of removal of electors now remains at over 11.85 per cent.
Criticising the poll panel over the SIR process, she also said, "We will fight legally to get the names included on the list as per the Constitution. If people cannot cast their votes, what is the need to frame the tribunal? And then you are saying that the list has been frozen. What is this? We will challenge it and try to understand it."
Addressing a poll rally at Arambagh in Hooghly district, the TMC supremo accused the saffron party of trying to manipulate the electoral rolls and offering money to woo voters.
Banerjee also charged the Election Commission with intimidating people over the phone.
“It (EC) is working at the behest of the BJP. It is calling people over the telephone to threaten and intimidate them,” she claimed.
Later, while speaking at a rally in Balagarh in the same district, Banerjee warned that voting for the BJP would effectively mean "giving up fish, meat, and speaking in Bengali".
“People are not allowed to eat eggs, fish, or meat in the BJP-ruled states like Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Maharashtra. The same will happen here if the BJP comes to power," Banerjee claimed.
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