A large number of Muslims gathered on the road in front of mosque in Saharanpur, chanting Allahu Akbar and other slogans. After the Alvida Juma, or the last Friday prayers during the Ramzan, at the Jama Masjid in Saharanpur in Uttar Pradesh, a large number of Muslim youths protested on the street, reportedly against the state government’s guideline to not offer namaz on roads.
The Muslim devotees had arrived at the Jama Masjid for the Alvida Juma, and the religious rituals were conducted peacefully and everyone offered namaz inside the mosque. But after people started leaving the mosque, a large number of them assembled on the road and started shouting slogans. Chanting Allahu Akbar and slogans against the state government, they protested against the decision to stop offering namaz on roads.
It may be noted that as per the guideline issued by the UP govt, the committee of Jama Masjid in Saharanpur had appealed the Muslims in the area not to use public places for the Alvida Juma. In a public letter, the mosque had asked the Muslims of the entire district to offer namaz in their local mosques, and not to occupy roads, markets and traffic intersections for the same.
Accordingly, the Alvida Juma namaz was offered inside the Jama Masjid, but the Muslim youths decided to protest against the decision after the namaz. They continued sloganeering for more than half an hour, blocking the road completely. Repeated chants of Allahu-Akbar can be heard in the videos of the protest. A sense of fear prevailed among the shopkeepers and locals in the area, as any small spark could create a bloody violence.
Police arrived at the scene after being informed about the situation, and tried to control the situation, but the protesters resisted them.
However, the police and the administration officials were able to prevent escalation of the situation, and brought the situation under control. A large number of police forces from several police stations arrived the scene and the traffic blockage was removed. Rapid Action Force troops were also deployed.
DM Akhilesh Singh also arrived at the spot to take stock of the situation. He and other officials talked to the protesting Muslim youths to calm them down, after which the sloganeering was ended and after some time the crowd started leaving the place.
However, the police have blamed media for inciting the crowd, and assured action against media for allegedly inciting the situation. SSP Akash Tomar said that the youths were agitated after some journalists asked them provocative questions. They started sloganeering after the questions by the journalists, the police officer said. He also added that appropriate action will be taken against media houses for spreading misleading reports about the incident.
