This Ramazan, loudspeakers to be kept in check

City administration, clerics agree on implementing loudspeakers’ act, security measures.


Azam Khan July 22, 2011

ISLAMABAD:


The volume of your neighbourhood mosque’s loudspeakers will be kept at the low level during Ramazan. The capital administration while reviewing the security arrangements on Friday decided to ensure the compliance of the law banning misuse of loudspeaker in letter and spirit in the fasting month.


The decision was taken at a meeting of administration and clerics from all schools of thought. The meeting, chaired by Deputy Commissioner Amir Ali Ahmed reviewed and finalised the security arrangements for mosques and Imambargahs.

A press release issued by the capital administration after the meeting stated that the religious leaders unanimously endorsed the code of conduct issued by the Auqaf Department for strict implementation of these directives during Ramazan and assured their complete cooperation for maintaining peaceful atmosphere and religious harmony.

Mosque committees would ensure internal security of the places of worship during Ramazan and only one gate of the mosques would be used during the prayer times. The mosque committees would deploy one or two volunteers at the gate for keeping a watch on suspicious elements and conduct checking through metal detectors, the meeting decided.

It was also decided that the religious leaders would inform the administration and police before holding gatherings. The administration has also requested the Director Municipal Administration of CDA to provide proper lighting arrangements outside the worship places and pruning of shrubs outside the mosques.

An official privy to the meeting, said that anyone found guilty of misusing loudspeakers shall be liable to imprisonment of one year or fine up to Rs50,000 or both.

The parliament last year had passed a bill to curb misuse of amplifiers and loudspeakers. The lawmakers called for an amendment to the West Pakistan Regulation and Control of Loudspeakers and Sound Amplifiers Ordinance 1965 and its application to the Islamabad Capital Territory.

The bill, it was hoped, would serve as a major deterrent to the growing sectarianism.

Interior ministry has maintained that the law will provide a mechanism to control the misuse of amplifiers and loudspeakers. The law was last amended in 2007. Former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf had banned use of loudspeakers for purposes other than Azan (call for prayer) and Friday sermons. The government had also directed the officials and law enforcement agencies to take strict measures against those misusing loudspeakers, publishing hate material and fanning sectarianism.





Published in The Express Tribune, July 23rd, 2011.

COMMENTS (1)

Naeem Siddiqui | 12 years ago | Reply

Usage of loud speakers outside masjid's boundary must be banned in Pakistan. There are lots of neighbourhood where there are multiple masjids and when they start giving Aazan it creates a painfully funny mixture of Aazan voices from different sides, people cannot listen the words properly and remain deprived of from the blessing of Aazan.

Therefor it’s better to keep the Aazan and sermon voices within mosques boundary rather than creating funny noise and insulting the virtue of Aaazn and Sermon.

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