By Saleemul Haq

In recent weeks, the dismantling of loudspeakers from mosques across Mumbai has triggered growing concern within the muslim population of the city, witnessing a complex showdown and debates that have now escalated from the legal actions and political campaigning to demands for administrative accountability.

On January 23 this year, a bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Justices AS Gadkari and SC Chandak, ruled that loudspeaker use is not integral to any religion, directing the Maharashtra police to enforce existing noise pollution regulations and instructing the state government to mandate that religious institutions implement mechanisms to control sound levels.

Following the court’s directive, BJP former MP Kirit Somaiya launched a ‘Loudspeaker-Free Mumbai’ campaign, which was followed by a police notice on May 11 mandating all mosques to remove loudspeakers and reapply for licenses through a stricter documentation process.

The ongoing enforcement has drawn legal scrutiny, with mosque committees and political representatives raising concerns over police action being carried out without transparency or adherence to due process.

On Monday, five Muslim religious institutions from Vikhroli filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, represented by senior counsel Yusuf Muchhala and Karim Pathan of the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, challenging the manner in which loudspeakers were being removed.

The next day, Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Asim Azmi addressed over 200 imams and mosque committee members in Govandi, urging them to ask for written directives before removing any equipment.

However, the recent police action drew wider attention after Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, in a meeting held on wednesday with a cross-party coalition of Muslim leaders, including NCP’s Nawab Malik, Zeeshan Siddique, Sana Malik, Syed Jalaluddin, SP’s Abu Asim Azmi, and AIMIM’s Waris Pathan, warned the police to follow due process and urged BJP state vice president Kirit Somaiya to end his campaign against mosque loudspeakers.

This story was originally published in maktoobmedia.com. Read the full story here.