NEW DELHI — The opposition to Friday Namaz in the open in Gurugram continues for more than two months as Hindutva supporters on Friday disrupted Muslim congregational prayer at Sector 37 and held their own ‘prayer’ claiming to commemorate the the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.
Muslims gathered for the Namaz but several of them were forced to vacate when Hindutva supporters stormed the site. Reports said hardly two dozen Muslims could offer Namaz amidst chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ by Hindutva supporters who stood some 30 metres away from them. Scores of policemen were also present while the ugly scenes unfolded.
Soon after the Namaz, as Muslims dispersed peacefully Hindutva men closed in and occupied the site and held a ‘havanr’.
Meanwhile, Muslim community representative and civil society activist Altaf Ahmad said that even “on Constitution Day, we saw repeat of violation of Article 25.”
He appealed to the local administration to take action against those stopping Muslims from performing their prayers and thus disturbing the communal harmony in Gurugram.
In another development, prayers were not held at Gurdawaras as previously offered by Sikh community leaders.
After the offer was made last werk, posters came up outside one of the Gurdwaras in Gurugram which warned that space should not be offered to Muslims in Gurdwaras. Despite threats, the community leaders said they are committed to stand in support of Muslims.
The impasse on Namaz has been continuing for close to three months now as Hindutva supporters storm sites and disrupt the prayers on Fridays. They have been successful in pressuring the administration to cancel permission at around a dozen sites and continue to attack the rights of Muslims and communal harmony without any legal consequences.
This story first appeared on clarionindia.net