Amid the recent azan row in Maharashtra, the Nashik Police on April 19 said no one is allowed to play the Hanuman Chalisa or bhajan 15 minutes before and after the azan and within 100 metre of mosques.

All religious places will now have to take permission from the police for using loudspeakers by May 3, Nashik Police Commissioner Deepak Pandey said. The police will take action against those found violating the order after the deadline.

“The aim of this order is to maintain law and order,” ANI quoted Pandey as saying.

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The order came after Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) Chief Raj Thackeray appealed to "Hindu brothers to be prepared" if mosques across the state did not remove loudspeakers by May 3.

Speaking at a press conference in Pune on April 18, Thackeray said the azan, an Islamic call to prayer, was more of a social issue than a religious one. However, he warned that if the use of loudspeakers continues, then the Muslims would have to listen to the Hindu prayers on loudspeakers as well.

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MNS will wait till May 3 for the Ramzan to end. “If they don't stop, and if they think that their religion is bigger than the judiciary, then we will give tit for tat," PTI quoted Thackeray as saying.

In the midst of repeated warnings, the Nashik Police Commissioner said temples would also have to take permission to play the Hanuman Chalisa or bhajan on loudspeakers, reported ANI.

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Meanwhile, Dilip Walse Patil, Home Minister of Maharashtra, said the government will issue guidelines on the use of loudspeakers in public places in the next 1-2 days.

The government is keeping an eye on the law and order situation of the state and will take strict action against those trying to disturb the peace, ANI quoted the NCP leader as saying.

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(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)