Huge protests against the friday prayers in the open in Haryana’s Gurugram led Muslims of Gurgaon not to offer Juma Namaz at Sector 12A.
This was in view of the very inflammatory situation in the area sparking on for long weeks where right-wing Hindu groups started showing open resentment to Muslims for holding their Friday prayers at venues already allotted to them, an arrangement made earlier by local authorities. These new protests were reinforced with antagonism when these right-wing Hindu groups had erected massive tents to perform a religious function at the same ground in the city’s Sector 12A area where Muslims prayed every Friday.
In a press statement shared with Al Jazeera, a group called the Muslim Community of Gurgaon said it has “decided not to offer” Friday prayers at the ground in Sector 12A “only for this week” as “vigilante groups” are organizing “Govardhan Puja (prayers)” at the same spot.
Just in:
StatementThe Muslim Community of #Gurgaon has decided not to offer Juma Namaz at Sector 12A(only for this week)as the vigilante groups are organising Govardhan Puja at the same spot of Namaz
Juma Namaz will happen at rest of the 36 places as they were happening before
— Zafar Aafaq (@ZafarAafaq) November 5, 2021
The event was attended by a number of BJP politicians and Hindu priests, including Kapil Mishra, who belongs to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Of note, last year Kapil Mishra delivered a very flammable speech on the eve of the Delhi riots, known to spark off the Hindu Muslim riots, and later said that he held no regrets for his speech and would do it again if he had to! Thus, Kapil Mishra’s presence at this event could be signifying an announcement aimed at perhaps provoking riots again. One could never know with Mr. Mishra!
Again Namaz got disrupted in Gurgaon today. The event was organized by Kapil Mishra. #Gurgaon pic.twitter.com/thcuJBHwcj
— Azhar Khan (@I_am_azhar__) November 5, 2021
Fearing another attack such as the Delhi riots, especially with the incendiary presence of Kapil Mishra, a “bad omen” at the Hindu Pujas, Muslims decided not to offer Juma Namaz at Sector 12A.
Events Leading to This Situation
The Friday’s event came days after officials in the northern Indian state of Haryana canceled permission to the Muslim community to offer Friday congregational prayers at eight of the 37 public grounds in Gurugram.
In 2018, the district administration had assigned 37 sites in the city for Muslims to offer Friday namaz after consultation with the Hindu and Muslim communities. However, the protesters have now been objecting to this.
On Friday, the Gurugram administration withdrew permission for namaz at eight of the 37 designated sites in the city. The administration cited “objection from local residents and resident welfare associations” as the reason for revoking permission.
“Permission to offer prayers at eight previously-identified sites has been canceled,” Gurugram police said in a statement on Tuesday. It said that if objections were raised by the residents at other places, “permission to offer prayers will be canceled there as well”.
The police action came after weeks of campaigns held by Hindu groups and local residents who had been disrupting the Friday prayers at those sites by playing religious songs on loudspeakers and raising hate slogans.
An umbrella group of Hindu groups called the Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti (Joint Hindu Struggle Committee), even announced an “ultimatum” to the authorities, saying they would stop Muslim prayers themselves if the Gurugram administration fails to do so.
“We are giving a polite warning. We won’t submit more memorandums. It will then be the responsibility of the administration to maintain peace, not ours,” said Mahavir Bhardwaj, Haryana state president of the group last week.
“We are ready for lathis (sticks), we are ready to go to jail. We won’t run if we are shot at, but this will not be tolerated.”
The protests laced with hate slogans against Muslims led AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi to tweet, “Protests against Friday namaz in #Gurgaon are a perfect case of how radicalised these “protesters” have become. It’s plain hatred towards Muslims. How’s practising my faith or offering Jumah namaz once a week for 15-20 mins hurting anyone?”
Protests against Friday namaz in #Gurgaon are a perfect case of how radicalised these “protesters” have become. It’s plain hatred towards Muslims. How’s practising my faith or offering Jumah namaz once a week for 15-20 mins hurting anyone? @AJEnglishhttps://t.co/ZekLPbJZmb
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) November 5, 2021
While every Friday, Muslims offer their afternoon prayers at a public ground in Gurugram, still known by its old name Gurgaon one of the most progressive cities in India, seated at the outskirts of the Indian capital, New Delhi, Gurugram suddenly got entangled with fresh communal hate.
For a few months now, various Hindu outfits and some locals have been protesting against the offering of namaz in open spaces in Gurugram. On many occasions, there have been attempts to disrupt the Friday prayers, leading to protesters being detained.
This Friday, the Muslims feel unsure and afraid, and also felt there had nowhere else to offer namaz.
The horrors of the Delhi riots are still haunting many Muslims, where 53 people, most of them Muslims, were killed, houses were burned, and property destroyed and some even had their genitals lacerated.
Due to these fears, the group called the Muslim Community of Gurgaon said, “(Muslim prayers) will happen at rest of the 36 places as they were happening before. It is the duty of the administration and police to ensure law and order is maintained,” it said.
The statement also advised Muslims “who are forced (to go) to these open sites due to lack of mosques in Gurgaon” to show “restraint and walk away in case troublemakers try to provoke or disrupt namaz at the remaining 36 sites”.
“The Muslim community of Gurgaon stands for peace and amity and will do everything in its might to ensure that communal harmony prevails in the city.”
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the Gurugram administration’s decision to ban Friday prayers at some sites was a violation of Article 25 of the Indian constitution that guarantees Indian citizens the freedom to profess, practice, and propagate religion.
Stunningly, last week, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah, while launching the BJP’s election campaign in the northern state of Uttarakhand, said the main opposition party (meaning Congress) had practiced “appeasement politics” by allowing Muslim prayers on roads.
“Earlier, when I came here during the Congress government, some people told me that the government had permitted the highways for namaz on Fridays. Congress does only appeasement and can’t do any welfare work for the people of Uttarakhand,” he said.
But Gurugram resident Shehzad Khan, member of a local group called the Muslim Ekta Manch (Muslim Unity Forum), told Al Jazeera they prayed in the open “out of compulsion”.
Amit Shah’s statement perhaps further emboldened the locals to raise vociferant protests with the presence of BJP radical groups, Kapil Mishra, Hindu priests, and Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti (Joint Hindu Struggle Committee), and others fortifying their open campaign against the Muslim community.
It is obvious that these outlets, directly linked to the Government of India are trying to cause communal riots with deliberate provocations, instigating hostility-driven speeches to raise riots.
In his tweet, Asaduddin Owaisi attached the link to an Al Jazeera report about the administration having revoked the permission that was granted in 2018.
After the permission was revoked at eight sites, Hindu group Sanyukt Hindu Sangarsh Samiti conducted Govardhan Puja and Annkoot Puja on what used to be a designated namaz site in Sector 12 of Gurugram on Friday.
Meanwhile, the district administration officials have constituted a high-power committee to identify places for namaz in the area.
In a release issued by the district administration, it has been mentioned that the authorities will “ensure the local residents don’t face any problem due to the practice”.
Yash Garg, deputy commissioner in Gurugram, was quoted in a Hindustan Times report as saying that all the stakeholders are being actively engaged to resolve the matter peacefully.
Notably, none of the Oppositions leaders, including the Congress leaders spoke out against the provocation of these Hindu outfits who were not only holding protests but also stirring up hate slogans against the Muslims as well as deliberately holding pujas at the same spot where Friday Naamaz is normally held.
The silence of the Opposition leaders on this discrimination is worrisome, especially when journalists over the world are speaking and writing about it and Aljazeera wrote an article on the event. Thus, it is disappointing that Opposition leaders do not speak up and reject such communal hate in times like this. No one realizes the implications and reprisals such discriminatory acts have around the globe where it becomes magnified and eventually boomerangs back on Indians abroad.
It is time everyone in India stood in solidarity against radical groups to stop these open acts of inciting religious disharmony which eventually leads to riots unchecked at early stages.
You might also want to read https://hamslivenews.com/2021/11/05/muslims-in-delhi-attacked-by-delhi-cops-at-behest-of-upper-class-hindus/