Loudspeaker row: Gupta writes to CM, AAP says in favour of ‘repealing’

Earlier in the day, responding to a query at a press conference, AAP MLA Atishi said her party will “definitely oppose” any move to remove loudspeakers from religious places in Delhi.

Asked whether the AAP will oppose loudspeakers being removed from Delhi’s temples and mosques, the MLA from Kalkaji said: “First, I want to ask Adesh Gupta why he wrote this letter to Arvind Kejriwal and not the Delhi Police, which comes under his own (BJP) government?”

She added: “Aur dusri baat, bilkul virodh karenge. Logon ki aastha chahe Ramlila ho, chahe Sundarkand ho, inse judi hui hai. Ab aap humein ye batayenge kya, ki hum jagran nahi kar sakte hain? Ab aap humein ye batayenge kya ki ab hum Sundarkand ka paath nahi kar sakte hain? Ab aap humein ye batayenge kya ki hum Hanuman Chalisa ka paath nahi kar sakte hain? Ye Adesh Gupta ji kaun hote hain humari aastha ke saath khilwaad karne waale? (And secondly, we will definitely oppose it. Be it Ramlila, Sundarkand, people’s faith is attached to these. Will you (Gupta) tell us we can’t do jagran? Will you tell us we can’t do Sundarkand recitation? Will you tell us we can’t do Hanuman Chalisa recitation? Who is Adesh Gupta to play with our faith?”

As the loudspeaker row simmers in Maharashtra, and with Uttar Pradesh taking down loudspeakers from thousands of places of worship, Gupta on Tuesday wrote a letter to the CM urging him to “adhere to the Supreme Court order and remove loudspeakers from religious places across the city”.

And on Monday, in separate letters to the L-G, Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana and municipal commissioners, BJP MP Verma had written, “As per the order of the Supreme Court, loudspeakers at all religious places should be either removed or the volume should be kept at a permissible level…”