The UP police have removed over 11,000 loudspeakers from religious places in the state in keeping with CM YogiAdityanath’s order. Additionally, the volume of 35,000 loudspeakers has been reduced to permissible levels. The action has been taken to comply with the UP CM’s order, which had asked the police to abide by the UP Pollution Control Board’s guidelines by April 30.

Reporting on the drive, OpIndia said:

The maximum number of loudspeakers (2,395) was removed from Lucknow. Other cities that saw the maximum impact of the order were Gorakhpur (1,788), Varanasi (1,366), Meerut (1,204), Prayagraj (1,172), and Bareilly (1070). Lucknow topped in terms of reducing the volume of the loudspeakers (7,397) as well. Other prominent cities on the list include Bareilly (6,257), Meerut (5,976), Gorakhpur (5561), and Varanasi (2,417).

Additional Director General (Law & Order) Prashant Kumar said, “A statewide drive is being undertaken to remove loudspeakers from religious places and set their volume within permissible limits. As part of this exercise, 10,923 loudspeakers were removed, and the volume of 35,221 others was reduced to permissible limits so far.”

“We are following the high court, which has set the specific decibel for loudspeakers. The order regarding this has been sent to district administrations. A committee has been formed to look after this. We are also talking to religious leaders as most of the loudspeakers are mounted at religious places. The drive has received a positive response”, Kumar informed Republic Media.

UP CM Yogi held a meeting with senior officials to discuss the law and order situation. He reiterated that while people have the freedom to follow a religion of their choice, they should make sure that their prayers don’t disturb others. Reports state that both Hindu and Muslim religious leaders agreed to comply with the state government order.

The Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi, Balrampur’s Shaktipeeth Devipatan Tulsipur Temple, Meerut’s Rajeshwari Temple and Kali Paltan Temples, and Gorakhpur’s Gorakhnath Temple are among those temples that have complied with the orders. Temple authorities in Ayodhya and Kanpur have also taken steps to implement the order. “We have directed all the mosques here to limit the sound of loudspeakers to ensure that it does not come out of the premises”, said Maulana Khalid Rasheed Farangi Mahali regarding the order issued to all Sunni mosques.

The move is appreciable, but CM Yogi must ensure that innocents aren’t troubled in the name of the drive. Recently, a UP priest went on a fast-unto-death after being booked for ‘breach of peace’ by the UP police. The priest was booked after he allegedly used a loudspeaker to chant the Hanuman Chalisa during the time of ‘azaan’.

The priest alleged that the action was taken in haste without proper investigation, and the allegations leveled against him were utterly baseless. “Hanuman Chalisa was recited on Tuesday in front of the mosque on the Station Road, but the loudspeaker was not used in any way. The district officials and the Kotwali police have taken action without knowing the truth, which hurts the sentiments of the saint community. Someone made a false complaint to the city magistrate, after which action was taken for disturbing the peace of the area. I am sitting on a fast-unto-death at Gandhi Chabutra and have also written a letter to the chief minister, district officials, and senior police officials.”

CM Yogi must make sure that the UP police don’t resort to such rash actions during the drive.