SRINAGAR, Aug 6: A youth was today killed and another injured in a clash between two groups of devotees inside a mosque in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir, police said.

The devotees clashed after one of the groups objected to the use of loudspeaker after prayers at a local mosque at Sandbal, 30 km from here, they said.

Two persons – Shabir Ahmad and Noor Mohammad – were critically injured and shifted to Soura Medical Institute here.

Ahmad (20) later succumbed to head injuries, they said.

Reinforcements have been rushed to the village to maintain law and order, they added.
“There is a claim that the clash was an outcome of an argument over the use of loudspeakers. We have not concluded anything at this point of time. The matter is under investigation,” said superintendent of police Shahid Mehraj.

The shocking incident has come in the holy month of Ramadan when any violence and abuse is strictly prohibited in Islam.

After the incident, security was beefed up in the locality that continued to be tense till late on Monday evening.

There is difference of opinion among Muslims over the use of loudspeakers in mosques. One sect propagates that loudspeaker should only be used for azaan (call for prayers) but the other sect maintains that prayers and verses in praise of Allah should be broadcast through these loudspeakers.

The incident has come just a day after Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik organised an iftar, the practice of breaking fast in Ramadan, where separatists and religious priests pledged to stop hate speeches and growing sectarian divide. Clerics from most sects pledged not to criticise or malign each other.