Hyderabad, July 20: Two outdoor loudspeakers of historic Makkah Masjid in Hyderabad were switched off on Friday, allegedly due to pressure from the police.
The sound system installed at the main entrance of the mosque was switched off. This incident caused concern among worshippers coming for Friday prayers. They said such an incident never happened in the past and because of this, they could not hear the Friday sermon.
Alerted by local workers of AIMIM, party president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi intervened to get the sound system restored.
The MP spoke to IPS officer Tafseer Iqbal, who is secretary, minority welfare of the Telangana government and lodged his strong protest. On the direction of Tafseer Iqbal, Hyderabad district minority welfare officer Ilyas Ahmed visited the mosque late on Friday and stated that there is no truth in the report that the two outdoor loudspeakers were shut.
Makkah Masjid’s superintendent Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui, however, confirmed that this was done following an oral order of local police officers. The sound system was removed after last Friday (July 12) following the oral orders of the police.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South Zone) Sneha Mehra denied that police pressured the Makkah Masjid superintendent to switch off the sound system. She said the issue came to their notice and it was resolved in an hour. The official also emphasized that the status quo should be maintained.
Minority Welfare Department is responsible for the maintenance of the 17th century Makkah Masjid, one of the biggest mosques in the country. The superintendent has come under criticism from various quarters for following the oral orders of the police without informing the higher-ups in the Minority Welfare Department.
The incident created controversy and concern among the Muslim community as such an action was never taken. People said the in-charge should have insisted on written orders by the police instead of implementing oral orders.
Demands have been made by concerned citizens for a thorough probe to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future.
