SP MP flays Bollywood lyricist Javed Akhtar for 'azaan' remarks

Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Rahman Barq on Monday flayed Bollywood lyricist and poet Javed Akhtar's for his azaan' remarks, terming it anti-Islam.

In a tweet on Saturday, Akhtar had said the Islamic call for prayer on loudspeakers should be stopped as it causes 'discomfort' to others.

"Being a responsible person, he should not have said such a thing. Today, he is talking about banning loudspeakers but he did not say anything about banning liquor due to which people fell in drains, abused and met with accidents," the Sambhal MP told reporters.

"You (Javed) see fault in azaan, which is an announcement of namaaz, and you become Muslim also. I want to say that his tweet is anti-Islam and will not be tolerated," he said.

The MP said the practice of azaan was continuing for past over a thousand of years, even when loudspeakers were not there.