Amid the row over azan and loudspeakers in mosques, a village in Maharashtra has unanimously passed a resolution not to remove the loudspeakers from the village mosque.
Dhalla-Pirwadi village is located in the Jalna district in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. Its population is around 2,500, including around 600 Muslim families.
On April 24, villagers organized a gram sabha to mark the Panchayati Raj Day where villagers unanimously passed the resolution not to remove the loudspeaker from the mosque.
Azan has become a Way of Life
The villagers said that azan was a part of the daily routine and no one in the village was troubled by it, reported the Hindu.
“Azan has become a way of life for villagers based on which everybody goes about their routine chores. The villagers start working after the morning azan and take a lunch break after the after-noon one at 1.30 p.m. The evening azan at 5 p.m. signals the end of the day’s work, the one at 7 p.m. marks the time for dinner and then after the last azan at 8.30 p.m. everybody goes to sleep”, the resolution said.
It added that Zahir Beg Mirza, the maulvi at the mosque, had even told the gram sabha that in case of any objection the volume of the loudspeaker would be lowered.
“The villagers belong to all castes. There are around 600 Muslim families here. We have been living in peace and harmony for years and no matter what politics is being played across the country, we decided that it should not impact our relations and traditions,” said Ram Patil, sarpanch of the village.
Mr. Patil said villagers always participated in events in every household irrespective of caste or religion.
Asked whether they were prompted by political parties to pass this resolution, Mr. Patil said the intention was to keep the village distant from the “poisonous politics” being played outside.
For the unversed, for the past few weeks, Hindu-Brahmanical groups across India have been vociferously opposing loudspeakers in Mosques.
Several hardline Hindu-Brahmanical groups have been threatening to play Hindu-Brahmanical hymns outsides mosques if loudspeakers are not removed.