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Saffron flag hoisted on mosque in Belagavi, FIR lodged: Police
The case comes after unknown miscreants hoisted a saffron flag on Sattagi Maddi Mosque in Ghataprabha village of Mudalgi taluk, threatening to flare up communal tensions in the border district and in other parts of Karnataka that has seen a series of communally provocative incidents in the recent past.
A case of defiling a place of worship was registered on Wednesday against unknown persons for hoisting a saffron flag on a mosque in Belagavi district, about 500 km from Bengaluru.
“A case is registered and an FIR is done against unknown accused. We are working on it (case) and have not found anyone (of the accused),” said Laxman Nimbargi, the superintendent of police, Belagavi rural district.
The case comes after unknown miscreants hoisted a saffron flag on Sattagi Maddi Mosque in Ghataprabha village of Mudalgi taluk, threatening to flare up communal tensions in the border district and in other parts of Karnataka that has seen a series of communally provocative incidents in the recent past.
According to reports, people from both Hindu and Muslim communities came together and tried to diffuse the situation. The flag was hoisted on early Wednesday morning, according to police.
Radical right-wing groups have been accused of provoking people from the majority community to continue its campaign to target the Muslims, their life and livelihoods in the recent past.
Right-wing groups have threatened to take the Basavaraj Bommai-led BJP government to court for not following the Supreme Court order on loudspeakers used in religious places. Most of this outrage from right-wing groups have been targeted at the azan or prayers by Muslims, threatening to counter it by playing Hindu devotional songs in front of mosques across the state.
The Bommai-led government on Tuesday issued guidelines for use of loudspeakers and directed all those who wish to continue using them have to get requisite permissions within the next 15 days.
“There is no provision to use loudspeakers between 10 pm and 6 am,” Araga Jnanendra, Karnataka’s minister for home affairs, said on Wednesday. “Anyone who violates the order, the concerned officials will remove these loudspeakers. No one is excluded from this (rule). There law has been made to ensure there will be no discrimination between churches, mosques and temples. The action to remove any device that causes sound pollution without permission will commence across the state,” he said.
The Karnataka government on Tuesday issued a circular on the enforcement of the provisions of the Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000, HT reported on Tuesday. In the circular, the government has mandated that all existing users of loudspeakers should attain a written permission within 15 days.
“All existing users of loud speakers/ public address system and sound producing instruments shall obtain written permission from the Designated Authority within 15 days,” the circular stated.
“Those who do not obtain permission, should voluntarily remove loud speakers / public address system and sound producing instruments or else the same shall be removed by the Designated authority within 15 days from the deadline given,” it added.
HT on Wednesday also reported that 108 noise level metres have been given to the Bengaluru police by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) to measure any sound pollution across India’s IT capital. Police have sought more such devices from the KSPCB to measure, monitor and implement the state government guidelines on loudspeakers across Karnataka.
