Gurugram Muslim Council Rejects ‘Suspicious’ Deal, Will Continue To Offer Namaz

Right-wing groups and a Muslim group had earlier declared that Friday namaz will not be held at designated sites.

People perform Friday prayers in Sector 47, Gurugram on 22 October. Image used for representation.

(Photo: Eshwar/The Quint)

A day after right-wing Hindutva groups and a Muslim group declared in a joint meeting with Gurugram Deputy Commissioner (DC) that Friday namaz will not be held at the remaining 20 designated sites, the Gurgugram Muslim Council, a group constituted to hold talks with the city administration, in relation to the ongoing hostility against the Friday namaz, rejected the proposal.

The council registered their protest at DC Yash Garg’s office on Tuesday, 8 December, and submitted a memorandum, calling the agreement “absolutely fraudulent”, while raising several questions on the way the matter was supposedly settled.

The council stated, “Our repeated submissions to you (DC) that Muslims in general do not trust Mushlim Rashtriya Manch of RSS or a handful of Maulvis, and they are not the voice of genuine and reasonable Muslim citizens of Gurugram, has once again been ignored.”

Asking how “a handful of Maulvis” could claim to represent the Muslim population in Gurugram, the council stated, “Who has given this right to a very small fringe and discredited group to represent hundreds of Maulvis and thousands of Muslim community members?”

The delegation, which submitted the memorandum included members of the Gurugram Muslim Council and several imams, including Mufti Mohammad Saleem Qasmi, president, Jamiat-Ulama-i-Hind, Gurugram, and Muslim Ekta Manch chairman Hazi Shahzad Khan.

What Was Proposed in the Meeting?

Muslim Rashtriya Manch convener Khurshid Rajaka, had addressed the media on Monday evening, 6 December, after the meeting with the administration and right-wing groups, and said that prayers would not be offered at the designated places due to the controversy.

Further, Imam Sangathan, a part of this meeting, had submitted a list of six places that they needed on a temporary basis till the time they get back the properties belonging to the Waqf Board.

Rajaka further offered that the places will be rented in return for using these public places for offering namaz.

What Has the Gurugram Muslim Council Said?

The Gurugram Muslim Council declared that it rejects "any and all such agreements done behind closed doors, in a suspicious manner, by a handful of discredited members of Muslim Community".

Further, the council submitted that they will continue to offer "Juma namaz at all the 37 sites agreed upon in 2018", and demanded the administration to ensure that the law and order is maintained.

Through the memorandum, the council also demanded the chief minister constitute a truly representative committee on the matter.

This comes after members of Hindutva groups on Friday, 3 December, had again disrupted the namaz in Gurugram's Sector 37, by parking their trucks on the prayer site, citing "parking issues".

The Gurugram Police had also arrested Dinesh Bharti, who leads a right-wing outfit called "Bharat Mata Vahini", and had stood in front of a Muslim man on Friday, shouting, "Namaz yaha nahi hogi."