As Gurugram simmers, Muslims offers Friday namaz indoors

All six public spaces authorised for namaz in Gurugram were deserted on Friday, after the city’s Muslim council appealed to devotees a day ago to offer namaz behind closed doors

Friday prayers across Gurugram were largely offered by Muslims inside their homes or workplaces, as they stayed away from mosques and public spaces amid heightened tensions in the city rocked by communal violence earlier this week.

Police outside Sadar Bazar Jama Masjid, in Gurugram on Friday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)

All six public spaces authorised for namaz in Gurugram were deserted on Friday, after the city’s Muslim council appealed to devotees a day ago to offer namaz behind closed doors.

Altaf Ahmad, spokesperson of the Gurgaon Muslim Council, added that the city’s six mosques and eidgahs also saw few people turn up for prayers. “No one offered namaz at the designated open spots. Imams had already made appeals to the community to not reach mosques for namaz on Friday, because police apprehended trouble,” he said.

Police and paramilitary forces, meanwhile, kept watch at more than 50 spots across Gurugram to prevent fresh flare-ups in a city already scorched by violence and distrust.

Communal clashes erupted on Monday in Haryana’s Nuh district, around 50km away from Gurugram, after a mob attacked a Hindu religious procession organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal.

The ensuing violence between the two communities barrelled into neighbouring districts and cities on Tuesday, when mobs burnt down a mosque in Gurugram’s Sector 57, killing its cleric. Later in the day, mobs set fire to and vandalised dozens of establishments. Six people died in the violence.

Hardly a handful of people turned up at the Sadar Bazaar mosque, where hundreds offer namaz every Friday. Two police patrolling vehicles were deployed at the entrance of the mosque and at least 20 personnel stood guard around its perimeter.

Tarique Ahsan, who works in Sector 27, travelled to a ground in Sector 29 to offer Friday prayers, but said it was vacant.

“From my office, it’s the closest spot for Friday prayers. The three of us returned to work and offered prayers there with a few other colleagues,” he said.

Rehmu Khan, who runs a shop in Sadar market, said he went to the Rajiv Chowk eidgah to offer namaz with two others.

“Senior police and administration officers were present at the spot, and no one stopped us,” he said.

Sehzad Hussain, who works with a private company, said he went to a park to offer prayers, with three colleagues, but said they found “men wearing orange scarves standing there.” “The situation is still tense and we did not want to take a chance, so we left,” he said.

Gurugram police commissioner Kala Ramachandran said there were no disruptions in the city. “Our teams were deployed in plainclothes and uniform to check activities around mosques,” she said.

However, leaders of right-wing groups said they will “not allow namaz in the open”.

The Bajrang Dal said it kept a close watch on open areas to ensure no namaz was offered. “We were prepared to stop namaz in public. From now on, we will not allow namaz in the open,” said Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, a Bajrang Dal member.

Meanwhile, no Friday prayers were organised at the Anjuman Jama Masjid in Sector 57, which was set fire on Tuesday and where the deputy cleric Hafiz Saad was killed by a mob.

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