A day after the Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee of Gurugram announced opening its doors to the Muslim community, offering them space to offer Friday Namaz prayers in the Gurudwara, the committee seems to have gone back on its decision.
According to a report by Navbharat Times, the Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee stated that due to the Gurupurab celebrations, the Gurudwara will be overcrowded, making it impossible to accommodate Muslims to offer Friday Namaz.
The Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee of Gurugram, which has five gurdwaras affiliated to it at Sadar Bazar sabzi mandi, Sector 39 (near Medanta), Sector 46, Jacobpura, and Model Town had on Thursday offered its space for Muslims to offer namaz.
Speaking to news agency ANI, President of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha Sherdil Singh Sidhu had said: “It’s Guru Ghar, open for all communities with no discrimination. There shouldn’t be any politics here. The basement is now open for Muslim brothers who want to offer ‘Jumme ki namaz’.”
However, a day after, the Gurudwara committee went back on its decision citing Gurupurab as the reason for being unable to offer space to the Muslims.
OpIndia tried to contact the committee president through Whatsapp but to no avail. We then tried to get in touch with another person associated with the Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee named Prem Singh. One of his staff members answered the call. He informed us that no one is available to speak with us right now since everyone is preoccupied with the Gurupurab celebrations and that no one will be available to speak with us until the programme is over.
We will update the report as soon as we are able to get in touch with the Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee members and obtain a statement on the matter.
Some Sikhs had raised questions asking when there are so many mosques in Gurugram, why do the Muslims need to pray inside a Sikh Gurudwara.
Hor kinniyan Maseedan chahidiyan teinu?
— Ramnik Singh Mann 🇮🇳 (@ramnikmann) November 18, 2021
(How many more Masjids do you need?).#NoNamaazInGurudwaras#Gurugram pic.twitter.com/Eg4jAXh10a
It may be noted that the residents in several sectors in Gurugram have been protesting peacefully against Muslims blocking public spaces for namaz prayers, asking why can’t they do it in mosques.
The protests by local residents in Sector 47, Sector 12 and other places in Gurugram was never about denying namaz or preventing Muslims from praying. The protests were about public spaces like parks and roads being blocked for namaz and the concerns regarding safety, especially that of women. Public spaces are for public use, the residents were asking why does the Muslim community block those spaces when they can offer namaz in mosques.
In fact, even the local Muslims in Gurugram, Haryana have raised objections, saying that the Namaz in public places should end as they believe it is vitiating the communal atmosphere in the area. Local Muslims in Sector 12 have told Gurugram News that they want things to go back to as they were before when Namaz was not offered in the area.
