Offering Namaz in open spaces will “not be tolerated”, Haryana Chief Minister (CM) Manohar Lal Khattar said on Friday, 10 December, hours after several Hindu right-wing groups showed up in Gurugram's Sector 37 and raised anti-Muslim slogans and objected to namaz being offered at the open site.
The CM also told the press that a previous decision of sites being reserved for this purpose now stands withdrawn.
On being asked about the continued disruptions of Namaz over the past several Fridays in Gurugram, CM Khattar said:
“We have told the police and the Deputy Commissioner that this issue has to be resolved. To resolve it, everyone offers prayers at their own place, someone offers namaz, someone does paath, someone does puja, we have no issue with that. And religious places are built for these purposes only so that prayers are offered there. Such practises should not take place in the open, this practice of offering namaz prayers here in the open, this will not be tolerated.”
His remarks came after a meeting of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA), which he is reported to have chaired.
Since September 2021, members of Hindu right-wing groups have been disrupting Friday prayers by the Muslim community in open spaces in Gurugram, despite these sites being designated by the state government for this purpose.
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