Gurgaon Namaz Row Continues, Muslims Offer Prayers Amid 'Jai Shri Ram' Chants

Members of the Muslim community were disturbed by miscreants while praying at a designated site in Gurugram.

File photo of Friday namaz being offered in Sector 47 locality of Gurugram. Image used for representation.

(Photo: Eshwar/The Quint)

Members of the Muslim community were disturbed by communal miscreants while offering their prayers at a designated site in Gurugram's sector 37 on Friday, 26 November.

The incident comes amid heightened tensions between members of the minority community and certain right-wing Hindu groups, who have objected to the reading of the namaz in open spaces of Gurugram.

The 20-minute prayer session was interrupted by chants of 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', as protesters raised slogans against the offering of the prayers at the site, NDTV reported.

WHAT HAS THE GURGAON NAGRIK EKTA MANCH SAID?

Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch, in a press statement, said:

"The far-right wing group has been disrupting obligatory Juma Namaz of Muslims for last three months in Gurugram. Today, it was Sector 37 where they intentionally chose the same spot and time of Juma Namaz for offering their own prayers; same way as they did for Govardhan Puja in Sector 12A on 5 November."

"On Constitution Day itself, we yet again saw violation of Article 25 of our Constitution of India. The Administration of Gurugram needs to act against these violators so Communal Harmony can prevail in the millennium city of Gurgaon."

BACKGROUND

For a few weeks now, several sectors of Gurugram have witnessed hatred and disruptions by right-wing Hindutva groups and members of resident welfare associations (RWAs) against Muslims reading the Friday prayers, Jumme ki namaz, in open spaces.

In the wake of the tensions, the Gurudwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha in Sabzi Mandi, Gurugram, had opened its doors for the Muslim community to offer their Friday prayers in five gurdwara premises on 17 November.

However, two days later, on Friday, no namaz was offered in any of the gurdwaras due to two reasons: First, that Friday marked the Sikh festival of Gurpurab, and second, there was fear among the Muslim community that the Hindu right-wing groups would create ruckus outside gurudwaras.

On 26 November, the city's Gurdwara Singh Sabha Committee said that members of the Muslim community had not sought space for the namaz, so no prayers would be offered at the gurudwaras once again, NDTV reported. The committee, however, marked its support for the Muslim community.

(With inputs from NDTV)