Prayers Should be Offered Only in Mosques: Manohar Khattar on Gurgaon Namaz Row
The group of men in Gurgaon were allegedly heard shouting “Jai Sri Ram”, and directing peopl to offer prayers only in mosques.
File photo of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar. (PTI)
New Delhi: Two days after Friday prayers were disrupted by Hindutva outfits in Gurgaon, Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar said on Sunday that there has been an increase in the number of people offering namaz in open spaces. He added that prayers should be restricted to mosques and idgahs.
“It is our duty to maintain law and order. There has been an increase in offering namaz in open. Namaz should be read in mosques or idgahs rather than public spaces,” news agency ANI quoted Khattar as saying.
The chief minister was reacting to the incidents of namaz disruption in Gurgaon.
According to a report in The Times of India, unprecedented scenes of people offering namaz getting up midway and running away in the face of slogan-shouting were witnessed in busy areas like Iffco Chowk, Udyog Vihar, Leisure Valley Park and Mall Mile on MG Road. At a park opposite Candor Techspace, a group of corporate executives prayed amid heavy security cover.
The report said that Hindutva outfits went around the city shouting slogans like 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bangladeshi wapas jao' and disrupted congregations.
Two weeks ago, Gurgaon police arrested six people for dismissing men while they were offering Friday namaz.
The group of men were allegedly heard shouting “Jai Sri Ram”, and directing namaazis to offer prayers only in mosques. The arrests were made a week after a video clip of the incident went viral.
The clip showed residents of two villages in Sector 53 stopping the namaaz that was being conducted in an open space where around 700 Muslim men gather every Friday afternoon.
“It is our duty to maintain law and order. There has been an increase in offering namaz in open. Namaz should be read in mosques or idgahs rather than public spaces,” news agency ANI quoted Khattar as saying.
It is our duty to maintain law & order. There has been an increase in offering namaz in open. Namaz should be read in Mosques or Idgahs rather than public spaces: Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar on increase in the number of incidents of disrupting namaz in Gurugram pic.twitter.com/82ZQw6M2WN
— ANI (@ANI) May 6, 2018
The chief minister was reacting to the incidents of namaz disruption in Gurgaon.
According to a report in The Times of India, unprecedented scenes of people offering namaz getting up midway and running away in the face of slogan-shouting were witnessed in busy areas like Iffco Chowk, Udyog Vihar, Leisure Valley Park and Mall Mile on MG Road. At a park opposite Candor Techspace, a group of corporate executives prayed amid heavy security cover.
The report said that Hindutva outfits went around the city shouting slogans like 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bangladeshi wapas jao' and disrupted congregations.
Two weeks ago, Gurgaon police arrested six people for dismissing men while they were offering Friday namaz.
The group of men were allegedly heard shouting “Jai Sri Ram”, and directing namaazis to offer prayers only in mosques. The arrests were made a week after a video clip of the incident went viral.
The clip showed residents of two villages in Sector 53 stopping the namaaz that was being conducted in an open space where around 700 Muslim men gather every Friday afternoon.