Delhi-based social outfit Khudai Khidmatgar has said that their national convener Faisal Khan, who was arrested by the police from Okhla in Delhi on Monday after he allegedly offered namaz inside a temple in Mathura, had been given permission for prayers by those present there on October 29.
The organisation, however, apologised to individuals and organisations if the act had hurt their sentiments but clarified that it was not their intention.
Mathura police arrested Mr. Khan and booked three of his associates — Chand Mohammad, Alok Ratan and Nilesh Gupta — for allegedly offering namaz at the Nand Baba temple in Barsana. Photographs were shared widely on social media. In the FIR, temple’s caretaker priest Kanha Goswami accused Mr. Khan and Mr. Chand of stealthily offering namaz. The four were booked for allegedly promoting enmity between religious groups, defiling a place of worship and public mischief.
Khudai Khidmatgar spokesperson Pawan Yadav said Mr. Khan and his associates were in Braj area to participate in the Chaurasi Kosi Yatra of Govardhan. “On the last day of his pilgrimage, Faisal Khan visited the holy temple of Nand Baba. He paid his obeisance there,” he said.
“That was the time of his afternoon prayers, so he asked for suitable place. The people there allowed him to offer prayers in the compound saying that you are already in the home of God, why do you need to go anywhere else,” said Mr. Yadav.
A Mathura court on Tuesday sent Mr. Khan to 14-day judicial custody. During the medical examination, he was found to be COVID-19 positive and sent to institutional quarantine, said lawyer Suyash Tripathi.
(With inputs from Anuj Kumar)
