Suchitra Krishnamoorthi Tweets Against Loud Azaan , Calls it 'Imposed Religiosity'

Mumbai: Weeks after Sonu Nigam's rant against amplified calls for morning prayers, actress-singer Suchitra Krishnamoorthi has criticised the "aggressive/ear shattering call" for 'azaan', saying she does not need public loudspeakers to remind her of God.

Suchitra, 41, called it a case of "imposed religiosity", describing the use of loudspeakers as "lowlife" and "dumb".

"Came home at 4.45 am 2 most aggressive/ear shattering call of azaan," she tweeted.

In another tweet she had this to say: "India has the loudest #Azaan in the world. Even louder than in the Islamic States!"

Her tweets were met with both praise and scorn. While some commended her for talking about the issue, others called her an attention-seeker.

When a Twitter user posted that it was good to wake up at 'Brahma muhurta' (early morning) according to Hinduism, the actress replied, "I wake up at Brahma muhurt of my own accord & do my prayers & riyaz & yoga. I don't need public loudspeakers to remind me of my God or my duty."

She further said she had no problems with 'azaan' or prayers during decent hours.

"But to be waking up entire neighbourhood at 5 am is not civilized," she posted.

When another user reminded her that singer Sonu Nigam had to quit Twitter post his criticism of the 'azaan' call which snowballed into a political controversy, Suchitra said, "Well the azaan seems to have gotten louder since his tweet. It's ridiculous. He tweeted from same location as me."

To further prove her point, Suchitra shared her 2009 personal blog post titled "The 5 am wake up call" in which she had written about being forced to wake up at 5 am because of loud prayer calls from a nearby mosque.

Twitter users were divided over her tweets with some praising her for raising the issue, others called her out for her choice of words.

"...so proud of you for your audacity & straight forwardness. Society as a whole should come forward to end this menace," a tweet read.

Another said, "...the fact that she needed to use 'lowlife' & 'dumb' tells me this is about attention, not discourse."

In her defence, Suchitra said she had used similar words for 'gaurakshaks' (cow vigilantes) & beef ban. "How come you didn't notice then? This false and for convenience sense of persecution must end," she said.