Namaz row: Muslims seek more mosques, action over ‘hateful sloganeering’

Members of the Muslim community sought police protection to offer namaz at the other designated sites, citing scarcity of closed spaces for offering Friday prayers. Members of the Muslim community, after holding meetings on Monday, decided to offer namaz at 28 sites designated by the district administration

Reiterating the demand for more land parcels to build mosques, representatives of Muslim groups on Monday informed the Gurugram administration of their decision to refrain from offering Juma Namaz (Friday prayers) at a designated site in Sector 12A to avoid conflicts with right-wing organisations. They, however, sought action against people for allegedly making provocative speeches and raising communal slogans during Govardhan Puja rituals at the site last Friday.

Representatives of Muslim groups on Monday met the deputy commissioner of Gurugram to seek protection at 28 designated namaz sites on Friday. (Vipin Kumar /HT PHOTO)

Members of the Muslim community also sought police protection to offer namaz at the other designated sites, citing scarcity of closed spaces for offering Friday prayers. Members of the Muslim community, after holding meetings on Monday, decided to offer namaz at 28 sites designated by the district administration.

Altaf Ahmad, a member of Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch and spokesperson for Gurgaon Muslim Council, said that they have requested the deputy commissioner to take cognisance of the provocative speeches. “The videos have gone viral and have brought disrepute to our nation. Hence, the hatemongers should be booked immediately for hurting religious sentiments of the Muslim community,” he said.

Mohammad Adeeb, a former Rajya Sabha member, who is leading a 21-member committee to resolve the ongoing issue, said that they have assured the administration of their continued support in resolving the Juma Namaz issue in a “pragmatic and peaceful manner.”

“There are only 13 mosques in Gurugram city for a population of over five lakhs (0.5 million). Given there are such few and far off masjids, with capacity of hardly a few hundred, praying once a week in the open is a desperate necessity and not preferred by the devotees,” Adeeb said.

Members of the 21-member committee, constituted last Saturday, said that they will not visit the Sector 12 site on Friday to avoid confrontation with right-wing groups who participated in Govardhan Puja.

Members said they will also meet Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday to apprise him of the situation and to seek the government’s assistance for setting up an adequate number of mosques in Gurugram. The group plans to meet residents’ welfare association members (RWAs) and members of political parties to apprise them of the needs and challenges of the community and to build mutual trust, members said.

Adeeb said that Muslim groups have voluntarily and pre-emptively reviewed their prayer sites and relocated if the congregations caused any problems, such as traffic disruptions. “The Muslim community has been seeking both private and government land for constructing mosques, which has not been forthcoming. One of the only two operational masjids in New Gurugram is under litigation in Supreme Court, despite legitimate allotment. We have urged the administration to review the allotments and the places of worship that have come up in Gurugram over the past three decades, as the fewest and most inadequate are of masjids,” he said.

Ahmad said that a delegation of the city’s Muslims discussed the ongoing issues with the deputy commissioner on Monday and was assured of protection at the designated sites.

Yash Garg, the deputy commissioner of Gurugram, said that the administration is trying to stabilise the ongoing issue and ensure communal harmony in the city. “We have formed a special committee and heavy police deployment is done at all namaz sites. Strict action is being taken against anyone disrupting namaz,” he said.

A senior police official, requesting anonymity, said that they have not received any complaints about alleged sloganeering against the Muslim community. “We will take action once we receive a written complaint,” the official said.