Gurugram namaz row: Land grab case against three Muslims

The Gurugram Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against three people, including Mohammad Adeeb, a former Rajya Sabha member who is leading a 21-member committee to resolve the ongoing namaz issue, on alleged charges of disrupting communal harmony and attempt to grab government land in Sector 40

The Gurugram Police on Wednesday registered an FIR against three people, including Mohammad Adeeb, a former Rajya Sabha member who is leading a 21-member committee to resolve the ongoing namaz issue on alleged charges of disrupting communal harmony and attempt to grab government land in Sector 40.

Some right-wing outfits have been protesting against the offering of namaz in the open since 2018. (HT archive)

Police said the first information report (FIR) registered at Sector 40 police station under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code names Adeeb, Abdul Haseeb Qasmi and Mufti Mohammad Salim Qasmi. All three accused are members of Gurgaon Muslim Council which has been negotiating with the administration over allotment of sites for Friday namaz and land for building mosques.

Adeeb denied the allegations and said he was shocked to know about the case registered against him. “Police have registered a case on the complaint of a person who was recently arrested by them for disrupting namaz in Sector 37. He was also arrested twice earlier, but on his complaint a case has been registered. However, despite our repeated complaints, the police has not registered a single case against members of Hindu right-wing outfits. Why the administration and police is being biased? It is unfair,” he said.

Aman Yadav, assistant commissioner of police (Sadar), said they have registered the case against three persons after they received a complaint from Bharti. “We have already filed cases against Bharti for disrupting namaz and have taken action against other right-wing members. It is a baseless allegation that we are biased and have not taken action against people disrupting namaz,” he said.

Kuldeep Singh, station house officer of Sector 40 police station, said Dinesh Bharti, a resident of Friends Colony locality in Gurugram alleged that the accused were trying to grab a land used as a graveyard by the locals. The land was acquired by Huda a few years ago. “A few families have already buried bodies of their ancestors there, but the three people named in the FIR are planning to construct a mosque there following which a Hindu activist approached the police and gave a written complaint,” Singh said.

Bharti, president of Bharat Mata Vahini, alleged, “On January 2, I read a report in a Hindi daily that these people announced the construction of a mosque in Sector 40. I, along with other members of the Vahini, spoke with a few residents who said that these people wanted to encroach upon the land. Similarly, they want to grab land between village Kanhai and Jharsa which belongs to Huda and was earmarked for a market.”

Bharti has been arrested thrice in the past for disrupting namaz at several sites. He was last arrested from Sector 37 on December 16, and was released on December 23 from Bhondsi jail. “We have not targeted any religion, but we will not let anyone grab and misuse public land. They (accused) are misleading people and trying to disrupt communal harmony,” he alleged.

Adeeb said they have complained to police five times in the last three months, including against Bharti, over disruption of namaz every Friday, but no action has been taken.

Adeeb approached the Supreme Court in December with a petition to initiate contempt proceedings against the Haryana chief secretary and the state’s director general of police over the Friday namaz row.