Residents of Gurugram have continued their protests against namaz being offered at a public ground opposite the State Vigilance Bureau office in Sector 47. Now, a video has surfaced online wherein people in sector 12 are also seen protesting against Namaz being conducted in the open.
Reportedly, apart from locals in the area, Hindu groups like Viswa Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal etc participated in the protest. The locals allege that a huge crowd gathers at the time of Namaz at the open area, which blocks the main road disrupting traffic. Moreover, the movement of people living in the area also gets disrupted when namaz prayers are offered at the public place.
After a large crowd gathered to protest against the namaz, police teams arrived at the spot to prevent any law and order issue. In the video, some local Muslims are seen offering Namaz in the open, while the opposers keep chanting ‘Jai Shri Ram’ slogans to protest against the same. As can be seen in the video, there is heavy police deployment in the area.
Breaking: Namaz again disrupted in Gurgaon. Slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ raised. Heavy police presence at the site. pic.twitter.com/C6qrYdLSo0
— Pavneet Singh Chadha 🚜 🌾 (@pub_neat) October 22, 2021
According to Hindu groups protesting against the namaz in open, the place is government property and it has been used for offering namaz prayers without permission from the administration.
On Friday (October 15) afternoon around 100 people carrying placards, singing bhajan and raising slogans came to the ground. They were carrying a portable speaker and a mic. They were also shouting slogans against Manohar Lal Khattar government for failing to stop namaz in public places. Their placards read ‘Namaz ki jagah khaali karo’ and they kept chanting and singing ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and bhajans.
Sunil Yadav, president of the residents’ welfare association of Sector 47 who is at the forefront of stopping namaz in public places has repeatedly told the media that it created lots of disturbances including traffic jams. The protesting residents said that Muslims should offer Friday prayers at the mosques or on Waqf Board land, and not in public places.
Residents question whether the state government and local administration will allow Hindus to occupy public places for prayers and bhajan. Local residents alleged that most of the Muslims joining prayer here come from far-away places like sectors 7 and 8. They have options and spaces in their own area to offer namaz but they only come here with the intention to create trouble and encroach land.
Resentment of local residents is not unfounded since the problem is not limited to Sector 47. In May 2018, BJP’s Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar had stated that namaz should be read in mosques rather than in public places. The remark was in the context of public places being occupied for namaz that cause inconvenience. Within Gurugram district in 2018 namaz was offered at public places at as many as 76 locations and arrangements were made for the same by the local administration.
