The Sangh parivar is now after the use of loudspeakers for azaan at mosques in Karnataka in the latest of a series of campaigns straddling bans on the hijab in educational institutions, Muslim vendors at temple festivals and halal food.

The Sree Ram Sena, an influential Sangh parivar organisation, has urged the state’s BJP government to ensure the implementation of a Supreme Court order against uncontrolled use of loudspeakers, a day after Muslims began fasting in Ramazan.

Sree Ram Sena chief Pramod Muthalik on Monday issued a “stern warning” to the state government.

“We will play Ram Bhajans outside mosques at 5am if the government refuses to heed our warning and does not stop mosques from using loudspeakers,” Muthalik said.

Muthalik recalled that no action had followed his earlier letters to the Karnataka government and the pollution control board against “noise pollution” from mosques.

“Now we plan to write to the deputy commissioners with an ultimatum to stop the use of loudspeakers by mosques…. Lakhs of people are facing problems because of this (azaan on loudspeakers). We are warning the Muslim community as well,” he said, citing a Supreme Court order that restricted the use of loudspeakers.

It is not known how playing bhajans in tandem with the use of loudspeakers would help fight “noise pollution”.

The court order he was referring to was issued in 2005. The court, which had elaborated upon what constitutes noise pollution and had mentioned religious places in general among many other things, had laid down that loudspeakers could be used only with necessary permissions and strict adherence to prescribed decibel levels.

The imam of the Juma Mazjid in Bangalore, Maulana Mohammed Maqsood Imran, said there was absolutely no dispute over abiding by the Supreme Court order.

“We are already maintaining the decibel levels prescribed in the Supreme Court order with the help of a very simple electronic gadget that controls the volume,” he told The Telegraph.

The gadget, which costs about Rs 1,000 apiece, has been fitted at 10,000 of the 12,000 mosques in Karnataka.

Karnataka minister K.S. Eshwarappa appeared to back the Sangh campaign when he said: “This should be done in consultation with the Muslim community. Students are affected by the early morning use of loudspeakers.”

The minister said the use of loudspeakers would lead to communal discord. “The Muslim religious leaders should think about this and follow how temples are restricting their sound output,” he said.

In neighbouring Maharashtra, where MNS leader Raj Thackeray had issued a similar threat against azaan on loudspeakers, home minister Dilip Walse Patil paused his speech in Pune when the call for prayer rose from a mosque nearby, reports PTI. Speaking at another event, he said there are issues such as price rise and unemployment to talk about, but attempts are on to divide communities.