A Samajwadi Party worker in Uttar Pradesh has opted to use the megaphone to highlight the runaway inflation and excessive prices through a popular Bollywood song, amid acrimonious protests to stop azaan (Islamic call to prayer) from being played over loudspeakers.
Moreover, his boss, Akhilesh Yadav, has given his approval for the move.
“Will use the loudspeaker to raise awareness about socialist issues… will speak out against inflation, unemployment, and crime!” Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, shared the video on Twitter.
Ravikant Vishwakarma, a Samajwadi Party worker in Varanasi, is shown in the video citing the country’s serious problems.
“Inflation, unemployment, education, health, and security are currently the most pressing issues in the country. The issue is not with aarti and azaan playing over megaphone. Some people are attempting to divert attention away from the fundamental issues by bringing in loudspeakers, ” Mr Vishwakarma is heard saying in the video.
“We will corner them on the major problems until we Samajwadis arrive. In this regard, I’ve installed these loudspeakers on my terrace, where I’ll play the mehangai (inflation) song to raise awareness in my neighbourhood” With the music blaring from the megaphones, he ends the film.
Moreover, “Mehangai Dayan khai jaat hai” is a song from the 2010 film “Peepli Live.”
Meanwhile, retail inflation in India reached a 17-month high of 6.95 per cent in March 2022, up from 6.07 per cent in February 2022, owing primarily to increased food and energy prices. Food inflation increased dramatically in March to 7.68 per cent, up from 5.85 per cent in February 2022.
However, the government has given the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) the task of keeping retail inflation between 2% and 6%.
Further, the RSS-linked student group Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, or ABVP, launched a campaign earlier this week in Aligarh to stop the azaan from being broadcast over loudspeakers and to request permission to broadcast the ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ (prayer for Hindu God Hanuman) by installing megaphones at 21 important intersections.
Various right-wing organisations have recently stoked the Azaan vs Hanuman Chalisa debate.
Raj Thackeray ordered to turn off loudspeakers
Raj Thackeray, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) head, had earlier this month ordered that loudspeakers at mosques be turned off, threatening that if this did not happen, “there will be speakers outside mosques playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ at a higher volume.”
Raj Thackeray, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chairman, stated on Sunday that his desire to remove loudspeakers from mosques was not motivated by his objection to Muslims offering prayers.
Moreover, he said, his party also does not want to riot in Maharashtra.
“But if you do it over loudspeakers, we’ll do it over loudspeakers as well. Muslims must realise that Religion isn’t more important than the law” according to Raj Thackeray. “I will see what to do after May 3,” Raj Thackeray said in response to his ultimatum to the Maharashtra government that mosque loudspeakers be removed by May 2.
Raj Thackeray spoke out against megaphones playing azaan from the Gudi Padwa rally in the state, threatening to play Hanuman Chalisa in front of mosques if the state government does not remove the megaphones by May 3.
Also Read: ’GO TO TALIBAN-RULED AFGHANISTAN, PETROL IS CHEAP THERE’: BJP LEADER ON INFLATION
