For second Friday in a row, rightwing group attempts to prevent namaz at Gurugram park

For the second Friday in a row, a rightwing group attempted to prevent people from offering namaz at a sector 40 park

For the second Friday in a row, a rightwing group attempted to prevent people from offering namaz at a sector 40 park. Police once again thwarted the bid and kept the situation from spiralling.

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While members of Bharat Mata Vahini claimed the gathering was illegal, police said members of the Muslim community had already applied for permission to offer prayer.

Bharat Mata Vahini chief Dinesh Thakur and 30 others reached the park at 12.30 pm where the Muslims had gathered to offer their prayers. They chanted slogans against the use of a public park for prayers. Police swung into action and escorted Thakur out.

Last Friday too, Thakur was escorted out after a similar protest.

Assistant commissioner of police (ACP, Sadar) Aman Yadav said, “Namaz is offered routinely under police watch. After last Friday’s incident, we had strengthened the deployment at the park. Our forces ensured peace.”

He said Thakur’s supporters were made to leave the site and no one was detained. “We had taken preventive action earlier as well. We explained to them that the members who wished to offer prayers had already applied and gotten permission for it,” said Yadav.

“Namaz is being offered in public spaces at multiple places. This is illegal. We raised the concern that it inconvenienced the common people. Earlier, no prayers used to be offered in the parks here,” said Thakur.

Those who offered prayers on Friday alleged that the protesters threw slurs and abuses at them.

“There were many men who were going around on motorcycles and in gypsies around the area where prayers were being offered. They hurled abuses, but we chose to ignore them,” said Altaf Ahmed, a city resident. “By threatening people every week, at different places, they want us to scare us into giving up our constitutional right of offering prayers. And these prayers hardly take 30 minutes.”

Mufti Abdul Haseeb, the imam who led the Friday prayers, said that there had been efforts to disrupt their prayers since February. “There had been attempts at parks in sector 38, Manesar, and DLF phase 3. But since the police were around, the matter did not escalate,” said Haseeb.

Haseeb said they were forced to use the park since there were no mosques in the vicinity.

“The nearest mosque is 5 km from here. Most people who offer namaz here are poor labourers. They cannot afford to commute to other places,” he said, adding the park hosted prayers since 2014 and that they had police protection since 2018.