PC George lauds UP CM Yogi's action on blaring microphones; 'Governance of true equality'

Senior Kerala politician PC George on Friday lauded Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for his stern decision of removing unauthorised blaring loudspeakers from the places of worship and regularising the volume at which they are played in the state. 

Coming out in support of the UP CM, George, who was an ally to the ruling NDA at the Centre, stated that the action taken by the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh is remarkable as it will provide relief to people in the state. Highlighting that the UP government had taken unbiased action by prohibiting the use of blaring microphones at the places of worship of all religions- mosques, temples and churches, he called it the governance of ‘true equality.’

Governance of 'true-equality': PC George

“Today I heard a happy piece of news about CM Yogi Adityanath's government. He has ordered to take out loudspeakers from mosques. Not just mosques, they even stopped blaring microphones in churches and temples there. This is true equality. What a decent decision. Believers have the right to worship at their place. But should they scare the neighbourhood?,” Kerala’s popular politician said. 

It is noteworthy that PC George was a seven-time legislator and an independent MLA, who had consecutively won from the Hindu-dominated Poonjar constituency of Kottayam district since the 1960s. Known for his blatant remarks, George has praised the BJP-led NDA on several occasions in the past as well.

UP government’s anti-loudspeaker action

PC George’s comments came after the Uttar Pradesh police officials revealed on Thursday that close to 37,000 unauthorised loudspeakers were removed from religious places and a volume of over 42,000 was set to permissible limits across the state.  Notably, the state government had ordered the removal of illegal loudspeakers from religious places in the state on April 23.

Speaking about the anti-loudspeaker exercise, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar earlier said, "Under this exercise, over 37, 000 loudspeakers have been removed and volume of 42,332 such devices have been set within permissible limits." 

Prashant Kumar further informed, "The loudspeakers which were removed were unauthorised." ADG Kumar further added that those loudspeakers which have been placed without taking due permission from the district administration or the ones which are placed with more than the permitted numbers are categorised as unauthorised. The home department has also sought a compliance report from the districts over the removal of loudspeakers from religious places by April 30.

Image: ANI, PTI