Allow azaan, Ghazipur MP writes to Allahabad HC CJ
The letter stipulates that all of a sudden from April 24 onwards it was found that the azaan from mosques is prohibited by the local administration and the police said that if anyone dared to make azaan they would be booked under the National Security Act.
Afzal Ansari, Member of Parliament, Ghazipur, has written a letter to the Chief Justice of Allahabad high court highlighting the prohibitory order banning azaan (call to prayer) by the district administration.
In a letter dated April 26, Ansari claims that an oral order was passed in this regard by the district magistrate prohibiting azaan in the district. He tried to contact several authorities but there was no response. “Everyone is talking about some oral order but its source and authority has not been disclosed,” Ansari said in the letter.
It is stated in the letter that everyone has been diligently following the coronavirus induced lockdown and prayers and gathering in mosques or any other religious places continue to be prohibited but azaan was allowed in every mosque throughout the state and other parts of the country.
The letter stipulates that all of a sudden from April 24 onwards it was found that the azaan from mosques is prohibited by the local administration and the police said that if anyone dared to make azaan they would be booked under the National Security Act.
In light of this, the MP said that since Ramadan was the month of prayers and this time everyone had decided to pray from their respective homes, azaan was essential as it alerts people about the time of prayer, especially at the time of “Sahree and Iftaar”.
Praying for directions from the court to allow azaan by only one person ie Moazzin (man appointed at mosque to call for prayers) from the respective mosque within the district, the petitioner avers that doing so would protect fundamental rights of people of Ghazipur.