Namaz in open won’t be tolerated, says Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar

Editorial comment

  • This step has been taken after Hindus and Hindu organisations protested for two months at Gurugram. Hindus feel that such a step should have been taken before Hindus began the protests.

Gurugram (Haryana) – Spelling out his Government’s stand clearly for the first time since protests began in the city two months ago, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday said the practice of offering namaz in the open “will not be tolerated”.

Protests have been organised every Friday for the last couple of months, leading to heavy Police deployment around namaz sites. Protesters have been detained twice. In the meantime, bhajan recitals, havans and puja have been performed at designated namaz sites to stop Friday prayers. While right-wing outfits have led the protests, some local residents have also joined in.

In the city to chair a meeting of Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, on a day when right-wing outfits were out in numbers to stop namaz congregations at multiple sites, the CM said, “the custom of reading namaz in the open will not be tolerated but an amicable solution will be found through discussions.”

Speaking to journalists at the PWD Rest House, Khattar said “someone does paath, someone does puja, we have no problem with that. Religious places are made for this reason, so that people go there and do all these things, such programmes cannot happen in the open (public spaces), he said some decisions had been made in the past but have been retracted now. The matter will be discussed anew,” It’s not the first time, though, that the CM has expressed his opinion on this subject. During similar protests in 2018, he had said namaz should be read in mosques, idgahs or private spaces.

The District Administration had informed that people need to seek permission to offer namaz in any public place or open place. Furthermore, the administration stated that the Muslims can offer prayers at any Eidgah, Mosque or a private designated place. Apart from this, Deputy Commissioner Gurugram constituted a committee to identify the places where the people can offer Namaz. In order to resolve the matter, the committee will further discuss the issue with communities.