KOLKATA: Two MPs from Murshidabad met chief minister Suvendu Adhikari on Saturday over the removal of loudspeakers from mosques and delays in cases before SIR tribunals.After the meeting at the state secretariat Nabanna, MP Abu Taher Khan alleged that Muslims were being targeted in the state.“Removing loudspeakers from mosques is extremely unfortunate. Muslims are being targeted in Bengal. Please stop this. We should be allowed to offer our prayers,” said Khan, who was accompanied by Jangipur MP Khalilur Rehman.Khan said court orders should be followed but opposed the removal of loudspeakers from mosques.“The court’s directions must certainly be followed, but removing loudspeakers from mosques is not right. We have requested the government to look into the matter,” he added.Khan, who was re-elected from Murshidabad on a TMC ticket in 2024, also accused the state police of being “overenthusiastic” about removing loudspeakers from mosques.“We have appealed to the CM to stop the removal of loudspeakers from mosques,” he said.The two MPs also raised the issue of pending cases before SIR tribunals in the Muslim-majority district. Khan said several genuine voters whose names had been removed from electoral rolls were still waiting for tribunal decisions.“A large number of genuine voters whose names have been deleted from the electoral rolls are awaiting tribunal decisions. The delay is causing difficulties in passport verification, land registration and access to government welfare schemes. We requested the state government to fast-track the hearings, and complete them by December 31,” Khan said.The MPs’ meeting with Adhikari came two days after Khan, Rehman and another Murshidabad MP, Yusuf Pathan, met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi. They had raised the issue of loudspeakers being removed from mosques in West Bengal during that meeting as well.
