The Maharashtra Police have announced a list of steps they said they would take in order to maintain peace and communal harmony amid the ongoing row over azaan and the use of loudspeakers in mosques in the state, as well as in the wake of recent communal clashes in some states, including Maharashtra itself.
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“Maharashtra Police started taking preventive action on those having cases regarding communal disputes, and IPC section 153(A) and 295(A), against them. People found giving provocative speeches will be arrested. Guidelines on media’s reportage of such issues might also come,” the police said in a statement, according to news agency ANI.
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{{/usCountry}}Also Read | Amid Azaan row, this Maharashtra district bans Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers within 100m of mosques
{{/usCountry}}The Indian Penal Code’s (IPC) section 153(A) pertains to offences related with ‘promoting enmity between different groups on grounds such as religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and committing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony.’ Section 295(A), meanwhile, is invoked against anyone, who, ‘deliberately and with malicious intention, outraged religious feelings of any class among citizens of India.’
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The controversy over azaan and use of loudspeakers erupted earlier this month when Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray raked up the issue during a public speech on the occasion of the Gudi Padwa festival. Thackeray warned that if no action is taken by the state government, his party workers would play Hanuman Chalisa on loudspeakers in front of mosques.
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In his most recent remarks on the issue, the MNS chief gave an ‘ultimatum’ to the Maharashtra government, till May 3, when the ongoing festive month of Ramzan ends, to remove loudspeakers from mosques.
The Maharashtra government has decided to implement an earlier court order, and make it mandatory for religious sites to seek official permission to use loudspeakers.