Amid the hijab row in Karnataka for the past few months, right-wing groups-- Bajrang Dal and Sriram Sena-- now want a ban on using loudspeakers in mosques in the southwestern Indian state.
In the latest development over the issue, Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Tuesday assured to look into the matter.
Bommai, who is from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said the state's High Court order is against the use of loudspeakers not just in mosques, but in all religious places.
This comes days after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray demanded that loudspeakers of mosques in the state be shut down, according to India Times.
Karnataka is run by the BJP, a Hindu nationalist party passing laws against cow slaughter in several states.
In a video message, Sriram Sena convener Pramod Muthalik recently said the Hindu outfits have been demanding that the loudspeakers on mosques should be banned and the Supreme Court's order on noise pollution implemented.
In this regard, the Sriram Sena had petitioned the authorities concerned but no one paid heed, he alleged.
The government has to instruct the mosque managements not to use loudspeakers, Muthalik said.
Though the Karnataka government has not officially commented on the issue, Minister KS Eshwarappa of the state said any solution to the issue can be found by taking the Muslim community into confidence.
It will be good if Muslim community leaders to think about it and use speakers within the mosques, in a way it doesn't disturb others, he said.
Also, several days earlier, some right-wing groups had given a call to boycott halal meat, on the occasion of Varshadodaku, the day after Ugadi, when many communities have a non-vegetarian feast.
Both Varshadodaku and Ugadi are Hindu rituals.
They had opposed the use of halal meat on Varshadodaku as according to them, it is offered to Allah first and the same cannot be offered to Hindu gods later.
Mandatory stunning of animals
While the boycott of halal was a call made by fringe groups, the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services Department in Karnataka has asked the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to direct all slaughterhouses and chicken shops in the city to ensure that animals are mandatorily stunned before they are slaughtered.
Stunning is a process where various methods of shock are used to 'stun' the animal so that it becomes unconscious before slaughter.
Many, however, say that this would make it non-halal.
The row over female students wearing hijab started in a college Udupi district in January and spread across the state like wildfire.
Last month the Karnataka High Court had upheld the ban on hijabs in educational institutions.
The cow politics
The subject of cow protection is frequently figured in BJP’s campaigns ahead of elections, with Karnataka holding its state polls next year. India goes to parliamentary polls in 2024.
Since the BJP came to power at the Centre in 2014, there has been a sharp rise in cases of mob violence in the name of cow protection. Vigilantes, sometimes explicitly supported by the party’s leaders, have attacked Muslims for allegedly killings cows or transporting them for slaughter.
In the last decade, the ruling BJP has passed laws based on the belief in the holy status of cows.
These laws protect cattle from being eaten or sold and uphold the belief in the animal’s divine powers. The government even set up a National Cow Commission for the purpose. At least 20 states have banned beef consumption or regulated the sale of cows.
