By Veena Nair / Siasat
The Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, on Tuesday, has threatened to launch massive agitation across the state if there is no immediate ban on the offering of namaz at public places across the Millennium City, Gurugram.
The Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti is a conglomeration of 22 local units of right-wing organizations.
Led by its president Mahavir Bhardwaj a five-member delegation submitted a ‘reminder letter’ to the deputy commissioner Yash Garg demanding an immediate ban on namaz.
The letter said the ban is necessary in order to maintain communal harmony and peace in the area. The letter also said that they had called upon the deputy commissioner on October 4 last year seeking the same request but no action was taken so far.
“It was unanimously decided by the groups of two religious communities and the top political leaders in a meeting with the district administration in 2018 that people belonging to any religion or community would not use the public spaces. The chief minister had also endorsed the decision,” the letter said.
The matter has arisen as a consequence of increasing protests against offering of jumma namaz (Friday prayers) over the past few weeks.
Deputy commissioner Yash Garg, quoted by The Hindu said that he has asked the district administration to probe the situation and keep a strict vigil. “The duty magistrates and the police have been accordingly briefed. We will ensure that communal harmony is not disturbed,” Garg said.
Muslim leader Altaf Ahmad said it was the constitutional right of Muslims to offer Friday prayers as part of Article 25 guaranteeing freedom of religion to all Indian citizens. He made an appeal to the Haryana state government to build more mosques so that people can offer their prayers there instead of offering in the open.
“Since the Muslim community has not been given enough land to build mosques in Gurugram, we are forced to offer jumma namaz in the open. I make an appeal to the state government to allocate land to the Muslim community so that mosques can be built at a distance of 3-4 km. The community shall pay for the land and build mosques. Till that time, we should be allowed to pray our obligatory namaz in the open,” he said.
This article first appeared on siasat.com