Muslim community in Gurugram of India says ready to take up spaces on rent for Friday prayers

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A committee has been formed by the Muslim community to resolve the ongoing issue of offering namaz (prayer) at public places in Gurugram city of India. The Muslim community said they are ready to take up spaces on rent for their prayers.

The members of the Muslim community constituted a 21-member committee under the chairmanship of former Rajya Sabha member Mohammad Abeed to resolve the ongoing issue of protests at the namaz (prayer) site. The development comes a day after right-wing Hindu groups and an organisation of local outfits performed Govardhan Puja at a namaz congregation site in Sector 12 on Friday, reported the Hindustan Times (HT).

The panel has been formed to resolve the ongoing issues and the members of the Muslim community will interact with the government and various representatives of political parties to find a peaceful solution to holding Friday prayers in the city. The Muslims said that they are ready to take up spaces on rent to offer namaz and sought the help of the district administration.

On Monday, five members of the panel will meet the Gurugram deputy commissioner to discuss the further action plan.

A report published in the Times of India (TOI) states that on the day Govardhan Puja was performed on the namaz site, one of the speakers declared that those who wish to offer Friday prayers in a public place should go to Pakistan.

Mufti Mohammad Saleem, President of the Jamiat Ulama, Gurugram, was quoted by HT as saying that they are ready to take up places on rent to offer the namaz but then the residents should not raise any concerns. Saleem, who is also a part of the 21-member committee, said that they need the support of the administration and the government to offer namaz peacefully.

On Saturday, a meeting was organised at Idgarh and Sushant Lok-1 in which participation of a large number of Muslim community members was seen and the issue was discussed.
Five-member delegation to submit a memorandum

The five-member delegation from the Muslim community is expected to hold talks with the Gurugram deputy commissioner Yash Garg. The delegation will also submit a memorandum to not reduce sites from the list of 37 designated sites agreed on in 2018.

Quoting Altaf Ahmad, a member of Gurgaon Nagrik Ekta Manch and a member of the panel, HT reported that they should be allowed to offer namaz in the open spaces until they are given designated sites. The members of the committee are also seeking appointments with Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala to grant them land for building mosques in the city according to the town planning guidelines.

"We will also request them to take stern action against those who try to disrupt communal harmony in Gurugram," he added.

The district administration withdrew permission for namaz at eight of the 37 designated sites in the city on Wednesday. A fresh committee has been set up to assign fresh sites to the Muslim community for namaz and police had said that the permissions for namaz congregations at the remaining sites could be withdrawn if the residents had any objection.

On the other hand, the members of the committee are trying to find land or other space where namaz can be offered and once the land is available, they will seek approval from the government.

It is to be noted that various right-wing outfits and local residents had tried to disrupt namaz at public places in Sector 12 for the past two weeks. On October 29, at least 26 protestors were also arrested by the police for attempting to disrupt the namaz. The Muslim community had asked the administration to clear the encroachments on 19 land parcels of the Waqf Board and had agreed to relocate from the site.



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